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vertebra
7 dictionary results for: vertebra
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ver·te·bra 
[vur-tuh-bruh] Pronunciation Key
[vur-tuh-bruh] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -brae
[-bree, -brey] Pronunciation Key, -bras. Anatomy, Zoology.
[-bree, -brey] Pronunciation Key, -bras. Anatomy, Zoology. | any of the bones or segments composing the spinal column, consisting typically of a cylindrical body and an arch with various processes, and forming a foramen, or opening, through which the spinal cord passes. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| ver·te·bra
(vûr'tə-brə) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. ver·te·brae (-brā', -brē') or ver·te·bras Any of the bones or cartilaginous segments forming the spinal column. [Middle English, from Latin, from vertere, to turn; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
vertebra
vertebra
1615, from L. vertebra "joint or articulation of the body, joint of the spine" (pl. vertebræ), perhaps from vertere "to turn" (see versus) + instrum. suffix -bra. The notion is of the spine as the "hinge" of the body. Vertebrate (n.) is from 1826, from L. vertebratus (Pliny).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| vertebra
(vûr'tə-brə) Pronunciation Key
Plural vertebrae (vûr'tə-brā', -brē') or vertebras
Any of the bones that make up the vertebral column. Each vertebra contains an arched, hollow section through which the spinal cord passes. In humans, the vertebrae are divided into cervical, thoracic, and lumbar sections, and the sacrum and coccyx are both made up of a series of fused vertebrae. The vertebrae are separated by cartilaginous intervertebral disks. See more at skeleton.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
vertebra ver·te·bra (vûr'tə-brə)
n. pl. ver·te·bras or ver·te·brae (-brā', -brē')
Any of the bones or cartilaginous segments of the spinal column, usually 33 in number.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Vertebra
Ver"te*bra\, n.; pl. Vertebr[ae]. [L. vertebra, fr. vertere to turn, change. See Verse.]1. (Anat.) One of the serial segments of the spinal column. Note: In many fishes the vertebr[ae] are simple cartilaginous disks or short cylinders, but in the higher vertebrates they are composed of many parts, and the vertebr[ae] in different portions of the same column vary very greatly. A well-developed vertebra usually consists of a more or less cylindrical and solid body, or centrum, which is surmounted dorsally by an arch, leaving an opening which forms a part of the canal containing the spinal cord. From this dorsal, or neural, arch spring various processes, or apophyses, which have received special names: a dorsal, or neural, spine, spinous process, or neurapophysis, on the middle of the arch; two anterior and two posterior articular processes, or zygapophyses; and one or two transverse processes on each side. In those vertebr[ae] which bear well-developed ribs, a tubercle near the end of the rib articulates at a tubercular facet on the transverse process (diapophysis), while the end, or head, of the rib articulates at a more ventral capitular facet which is sometimes developed into a second, or ventral, transverse process (parapophysis). In vertebrates with well-developed hind limbs, the spinal column is divided into five regions in each of which the vertebr[ae] are specially designated: those vertebr[ae] in front of, or anterior to, the first vertebra which bears ribs connected with the sternum are cervical; all those which bear ribs and are back of the cervicals are dorsal; the one or more directly supporting the pelvis are sacral and form the sacrum; those between the sacral and dorsal are lumbar; and all those back of the sacral are caudal, or coccygeal. In man there are seven cervical vertebr[ae], twelve dorsal, five lumbar, five sacral, and usually four, but sometimes five and rarely three, coccygeal. 2. (Zo["o]l.) One of the central ossicles in each joint of the arms of an ophiuran.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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