acetabulum

[ as-i-tab-yuh-luhm ]

noun,plural ac·e·tab·u·la [as-i-tab-yuh-luh]. /ˌæs ɪˈtæb yə lə/.
  1. Anatomy. the socket in the hipbone that receives the head of the thighbone.

  2. Zoology. any of the suction appendages of a leech, octopus, etc.

Origin of acetabulum

1
1660–70; <Latin: hip socket, cup-shaped part of a plant (Pliny), literally, small cup, originally for vinegar, equivalent to acēt(um) vinegar + -ā- by analogy with verbal derivatives (cf. vocable) + -bulum suffix denoting instrument or vessel

Other words from acetabulum

  • ac·e·tab·u·lar, adjective
  • post·ac·e·tab·u·lar, adjective
  • pre·ac·e·tab·u·lar, adjective
  • sub·ac·e·tab·u·lar, adjective

Words Nearby acetabulum

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use acetabulum in a sentence

  • In Birds the acetabulum is perforated, as in many of the fossils named Dinosaurs, and in Monotremata.

    Dragons of the Air | H. G. Seeley
  • Secondly, the ilium is elongated, and extends quite as much in front of the acetabulum as behind it.

    Dragons of the Air | H. G. Seeley
  • The ilium is a somewhat cylindrical bone which at its ventral end meets the ischium, and forms part of the acetabulum.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • Each half bears at its posterior end a deep cup, the acetabulum, with which the head of the femur articulates.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • All three bones contribute largely to the formation of the acetabulum, with which the head of the femur articulates.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for acetabulum

acetabulum

/ (ˌæsɪˈtæbjʊləm) /


nounplural -la (-lə)
  1. the deep cuplike cavity on the side of the hipbone that receives the head of the thighbone

  2. a round muscular sucker in flatworms, leeches, and cephalopod molluscs

  1. the aperture in the thorax of an insect that holds the leg

Origin of acetabulum

1
Latin: vinegar cup, hence a cuplike cavity, from acētum vinegar + -abulum, suffix denoting a container

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012