microvillusn.

1953 E. Borysko & F. B. Bang in Bull. Johns Hopkins Hosp. 92 259 The cell surface in contact with the allantoic fluid was consistently characterized by the presence of variable numbers of small projections..which we have named ‘microvilli’ to distinguish them from other types of surface projections (cilia, pseudopods, brush borders, blebs, etc.). These microvilli appeared as club-shaped projections extending into the allantoic sac. They were approximately 0·1 micron in width, ranging from 0·1 to 1·0 micron in length.

1968 New Scientist 28 Nov. 513/1 The skin of many tapeworms possesses a number of very small, finger-like projections. They are known as microvilli, from their resemblance to the larger, but similar, projections called villi found in the small intestine of most types of vertebrate.

1975 Science 30 May 947/3 The average microvillus [of breast glandular epithelium] is 1.5 to 2 μm long.

1989 B. Alberts et al. Molecular Biol. Cell (ed. 2) xi. 634 The core of each intestinal microvillus contains a rigid bundle of 20 to 30 parallel actin filaments that extends from the tip of the microvillus down into the cell cortex.

2000 Jrnl. Exper. Biol. 203 1599 The predominant cell type [of the mosquito midgut] is densely covered with microvilli.