funiculus

English

Etymology

From Latin funiculus, diminutive of funis (“rope, cord”) +‎ -culus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fjʊˈnɪk.jʊl.əs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fjʊˈnɪk.jəl.əs/, /fəˈnɪk.jəl.əs/
• Rhymes: -ɪkjələs
• Rhymes: -ɪkjʊləs

Noun

funiculus (plural funiculi)

1. (anatomy) Any of several cordlike structures, especially the umbilical cord, or a bundle of nerve fibres (white matter) in the spinal cord. The white matter of the spinal cord is made of (posterior, anterior & lateral) columns/funiculi. The grey columns are also called horns but not funiculi.
2. (botany) A stalk that connects the seed (or ovule) with the placenta

Translations

cordlike structure

• Finnish: nuora (fi), funikkeli
• Hungarian: gerincvelő fehérállományának kötege
• Italian: funicolo m

stalk

• Finnish: varsi (fi), funikkeli
• Italian: funicolo m

References

• “funiculus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “funiculus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Etymology

Diminutive from fūnis (“cord, rope”) +‎ -culus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /fuːˈni.ku.lus/, [fuːˈnɪkʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fuˈni.ku.lus/, [fuˈniːkulus]

Noun

fūniculus m (genitive fūniculī); second declension

1. a slender rope, cord

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	fūniculus	fūniculī
genitive	fūniculī	fūniculōrum
dative	fūniculō	fūniculīs
accusative	fūniculum	fūniculōs
ablative	fūniculō	fūniculīs
vocative	fūnicule	fūniculī

Synonyms

• (cord): fūnicula, līnum, vinculum

Related terms

• fūnālis
• fūnambulus
• fūnārius
• fūnicula
• fūnirēpus
• fūnis

Descendants

• Catalan: funicle
• English: funicle, funicular, funiculus
• French: funicule
• Italian: funicolo
• Portuguese: funículo
• Spanish: funículo

References

• “funiculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “funiculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• funiculus 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)
• funiculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.