lobe

[lohb]
noun
1.
a roundish projection or division, as of an organ or a leaf.
2.
earlobe.
Origin:
1515–25; < Medieval Latin lobus (Late Latin: hull, husk, pod) < Greek lobós, akin to Latin legula lobe of the ear

Related forms
mul·ti·lobe, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
lobe (ləʊb) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  any rounded projection forming part of a larger structure
2.  any of the subdivisions of a bodily organ or part, delineated by shape or connective tissue
3.  short for ear lobe
4.  Compare radiation pattern any of the loops that form part of the graphic representation in cylindrical coordinates of the radiation pattern of a transmitting aerial
5.  any of the parts, not entirely separate from each other, into which a flattened plant part, such as a leaf, is divided
 
[C16: from Late Latin lobus, from Greek lobos lobe of the ear or of the liver]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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00:10
Lobe is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

lobe
1520s, from M.L. lobus, from L.L. lobus "hull, husk, pod," from Gk. lobos "lobe of the ear, vegetable pod," probably related to Gk. leberis "husk of fruits," from PIE *logwos, from base *lep- "to peel." Extended 1670s to divisions of the brain.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

lobe (lōb)
n.

  1. A rounded projection, especially a rounded, projecting anatomical part, such as the lobe of the ear.

  2. A subdivision of a body organ or part bounded by fissures, connective tissue, or other structural boundaries.

  3. One of the larger divisions of the crown of a tooth, formed from a distinct point of calcification.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
lobe   (lōb)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A rounded projection, as on a leaf or petal. The leaves of many oak species have prominent lobes.

  2. An anatomical division of an organ of the body. The liver, lungs, and brain are all characterized by lobes that are held in place by connective tissue.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
On the outer edge of each such cloud, as viewed at radio wavelengths, is a
  compact lobe of exceptional brilliance.
Each muscle is controlled by motor neurons that reside in the brain in the
  frontal lobe.
The abdominal portion of the esophagus lies in the esophageal groove on the
  posterior surface of the left lobe of the liver.
The right branch of the portal vein enters the right lobe of the liver, but
  before doing so generally receives the cystic vein.
Matching Quote
"The whole bank, which is from twenty to forty feet high, is sometimes overlaid with a mass of this kind of foliage, or sandy rupture, for a quarter of a mile on one or both sides, the produce of one spring day. What makes this sand foliage remarkable is its springing into existence thus suddenly. When I see on the one side the inert bank,—for the sun acts on one side first,—and on the other this luxuriant foliage, the creation of an hour, I am affected as if in a peculiar sense I stood in the laboratory of the Artist who made the world and me,—had come to where he was still at work, sporting on this bank, and with excess of energy strewing his fresh designs about. I feel as if I were nearer to the vitals of the globe, for this sandy overflow is something such a foliaceous mass as the vitals of the animal body. You find thus in the very sands an anticipation of the vegetable leaf. No wonder that the earth expresses itself outwardly in leaves, it labors with the idea inwardly. The atoms have already learned this law, and are pregnant by it. The overhanging leaf sees here its prototype. Internally, whether in the globe or animal body, it is a moist thick lobe, a word especially applicable to the liver and lungs and the leaves of fat (leibo, labor, lapsus, to flow or slip downward, a lapsing; lobos, globus, lobe, globe; also lap, flap, and many other words); externally, a dry thin leaf, even as the f and v are a pressed and dried b. The radicals of lobe are lb, the soft mass of the b (single-lobed, or B, double-lobed), with the liquid l behind it pressing it forward. In globe, glb, the gutteral g adds to the meaning the capacity of the throat. The feather and wings of birds are still drier and thinner leaves. Thus, also, you pass from the lumpish grub in the earth to the airy and fluttering butterfly. The very globe continually transcends and translates itself, and becomes winged in its orbit."
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