taenia

or te·ni·a

[ tee-nee-uh ]

noun,plural tae·ni·ae

[tee-nee-ee]. /ˈti niˌi/.

Classical Antiquity. a headband or fillet.
Architecture. (on a Doric entablature) a fillet or band separating the frieze from the architrave.

Anatomy. a ribbonlike structure, as certain bands of white nerve fibers in the brain.
any tapeworm of the genus Taenia, parasitic in humans and other mammals.

Origin of taenia

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin, from Greek tainía “band, ribbon”; defs. 4 is from New Latin, Latin, as above

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

How to use taenia in a sentence

Nets (rticula) and ribbons (vittae, taeniae, fasciolae) were also worn, but combs were not made a part of the head-dress.
The Private Life of the Romans | Harold Whetstone Johnston
The capillitium is very even the taeniae closely wound, the elater-ends often furcate.
The North American Slime-Moulds | Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
All the figures on the east side had metal taeniae or stephanae, the holes for the attachment of the metal being still visible.
A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, Volume I (of 2) | A. H. Smith

British Dictionary definitions for taenia

taenia

US tenia

/ (ˈtiːnɪə) /

nounplural -niae (-nɪˌiː)

(in ancient Greece) a narrow fillet or headband for the hair
architect the fillet between the architrave and frieze of a Doric entablature

anatomy any bandlike structure or part
any tapeworm of the genus Taenia, such as T. soleum, a parasite of man that uses the pig as its intermediate host

Origin of taenia

C16: via Latin from Greek tainia narrow strip; related to Greek teinein to stretch

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

Browse