myxa

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin myxa (“lamp nozzle”), from Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa).

Noun

myxa

1. (ornithology, rare) The distal end of the mandibles of a bird.
   • 1824, Thomas Horsfield, Zoological Researches in Java, and the Neighbouring Islands, Volume 2, unnumbered page:

     The bill of the Prinia familiaris agrees with the head in length. It is nearly straight at the base; from the middle of its length the upper mandible is very slightly arched; the lower mandible is comparatively robust; it is greatly depressed at the base, increases in dimensions to the middle, where the myxa (in Illiger's language) begins, and thence rises very gradually to the point.

   • 1866 May, Elliott Coues, “Critical Review of the Family embracing the DIOMEDEINÆ and the HALODROMINÆ”, in Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, volume 18, page 189:

     The myxa is unusually small and narrow, with a very acute tip, and extremely concave gonys. The sulci separating the myxotheca from the rest of the mandible, and the lateral one on the gnathidia are strongly marked.

   • 1937, Gregory M. Mathews, “Remarks on Prions”, in The Emu, volume 37, number 2, page 121:

     The angle at which the rami leave the myxa or gonys should be a good guide, as presumably that is constant.

   • [1972, Alfred M. Lucas, Peter R. Stettenheim, “Avian Anatomy Integument”, in Agriculture Handbook, number 362, Part I, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, page 17:

     Instead of mentum, Coues (1903:109) applied the term "myxa " which he defined as "...that portion of the rami which correspond to the length of the gonys." The word "myxa " has not been extensively used in the literature..."]

Further reading

• “myxa”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “myxa”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “myxa”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• "Myxa", in Frank Custer Edminster, Glossary of Ornithological Terms (1944), p. 157.

Anagrams

• Maxy

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μύξα (múxa).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmyk.sa/, [ˈmʏks̠ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmik.sa/, [ˈmiksä]

Noun

myxa f (genitive myxae); first declension

1. sebesten (tree)
2. the curved part of a lamp, nozzle

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	myxa	myxae
Genitive	myxae	myxārum
Dative	myxae	myxīs
Accusative	myxam	myxās
Ablative	myxā	myxīs
Vocative	myxa	myxae

Related terms

• myxum

Further reading

• “myxa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• myxa in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• myxa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.