ossicle

English

Etymology

Late 16th century, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin ossiculum (“little bone, ossicle”) from os (“bone”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɒsɪkəl/

Noun

ossicle (plural ossicles)

1. (anatomy) A small bone (or bony structure), especially one of the three of the middle ear.

   The incus is one of the three auditory ossicles.

   • 1836, William Buckland, Geology and Mineralogy, Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, vol. 1, William Pickering, p. 174:

     The eyeballs were surrounded by a ring of bones, the sclerotic ossicle, which probably protected their eyes when diving abruptly for prey.

2. (zoology) Bone-like joint or plate, especially:
   1. one of numerous small calcareous structures forming the skeleton of certain echinoderms, as the starfishes;
   2. one of the hard articuli or joints of the stem or branches of a crinoid or encrinite;
   3. one of the several small hard chitinous parts or processes of the gastric skeleton of crustaceans, as in the stomach of a lobster or crawfish.
   4. The skeleton of echinoderms is made of ossicles, linked to each other via muscles and connective tissue.

Synonyms

• auditory bone
• auditory ossicle
• bonelet
• ossicular chain

• ossicule
• ossiculum
• otic bone

Derived terms

• ambulacral ossicle
• Andernach's ossicles
• cardiac ossicle
• carpal ossicle
• epactal ossicles
• episternal ossicles
• intercalcar ossicles

• Kerckring's (Kerkring's) ossicle
• marginal ossicles
• ossicle of Bertin
• ossicular
• ossiculate
• ossiculectomy
• ossiculoplasty
• ossiculotomy

• Riolan's ossicles
• sphenoturbinal ossicle
• tarsal ossicle
• vertebral ossicle
• Weberian ossicles
• wormian ossicles

Related terms

See os.

Translations

small bone in the ear; auditory ossicle

• Catalan: ossicle (ca) m
• Czech: kůstka (cs) f, sluchová kůstka f
• Dutch: botje (nl) n, boontje (nl) n
• Finnish: kuuloluu (fi)
• French: osselet (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Gehörknöchelchen (de) n
• Polish: kosteczka (pl) f, kostka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ossículo (pt) m
• Spanish: huesecillo (es) m
• Walloon: oxhlet (wa) m

bone-like plate

• Polish: płytka (wapienna) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

See also

• bone
• incus
• malleus
• stapes

Anagrams

• loessic, scolies

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [uˈsi.klə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [oˈsi.kle]

Noun

ossicle m (plural ossicles)

1. ossicle (small bone)