a flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism
"the alae of the nose"
"the alae of a maple seed"
"the flat petals of a pea blossom are alae"
a wing of an insect
"The dragonfly spread its delicate, transparent ala as it hovered over the pond."
A wing or winglike anatomic process or part, especially of bone.
"The nutritional label lists ALA as a type of essential fatty acid found in flaxseed oil."
Initialism of alpha linolenic acid.
In plain English: An ala is a wing on a bird or an airplane.
"Increasing my ala intake might help reduce inflammation."
Usage: In everyday English, "ala" is almost exclusively used in medical or anatomical contexts to describe a wing-like portion of a bone, such as the ala of the nose or the temporal bone. Outside of these technical fields, this word is rarely encountered and should not be substituted for common nouns like "wing."
Alternative form of a la.
"The recipe calls for adding garlic ala, which is an alternative spelling of the French phrase a la."
Alternative spelling of Ala.
"The ALA announced its annual conference schedule in January."
Initialism of American Library Association.
The word ala entered English between 1730 and 1740 directly from the Latin term for "wing." It is a doublet of the word aisle, sharing the same origin but developing distinct meanings over time.