trabecula

[ truh-bek-yuh-luh ]

noun,plural tra·bec·u·lae [truh-bek-yuh-lee]. /trəˈbɛk yəˌli/.
  1. Anatomy, Botany. a structural part resembling a small beam or crossbar.

  2. Botany. one of the projections from the cell wall that extends across the cavity of the ducts of certain plants, or the plate of cells across the cavity of the sporangium of a moss.

Origin of trabecula

1
1815–25; <New Latin trabēcula,Latin: little beam, equivalent to trabē(s) beam + -cula-cule1

Other words from trabecula

  • tra·bec·u·lar, tra·bec·u·late [truh-bek-yuh-lit, -leyt], /trəˈbɛk yə lɪt, -ˌleɪt/, adjective
  • in·ter·tra·bec·u·lar, adjective

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

British Dictionary definitions for trabecula

trabecula

/ (trəˈbɛkjʊlə) /


nounplural -lae (-ˌliː) anatomy botany
  1. any of various rod-shaped structures that divide organs into separate chambers

  2. any of various rod-shaped cells or structures that bridge a cavity, as within the capsule of a moss or across the lumen of a cell

Origin of trabecula

1
C19: via New Latin from Latin: a little beam, from trabs a beam

Derived forms of trabecula

  • trabecular or trabeculate, adjective

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