# Microvilli --- **Microvilli** are very small finger-like projections that exist on [[enterocytes]] that make up the [[villi]] in the small and large [[intestines]] that vastly increase the surface area each cell can have a available to come in contact with material in the lumen of the intestine. They are too small to differentiate with a [[light microscope]], but do appear fuzzy—this is why they are sometimes called a **brush boarder**. Another way to think of it is microvilli are to villi what villi are to the intestines. ![[villi and microvilli.png]] Not to be confused with [[cilia]], which are less like little fingers and more like little hairs. ___