ossicle

English

Etymology

Late 16th century, from Latin ossiculum (“little bone, ossicle”) from os (“bone”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɒsɪkəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

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.

   Synonyms: auditory bone, auditory ossicle, bonelet, ossicular chain, ossicule, ossiculum, otic bone

   Hyponyms: incus, malleus, stapes, hammer, anvil, stirrup

   Hypernyms: bone, os

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.

   The skeleton of echinoderms is made of ossicles, linked to each other via muscles and connective tissue.

   • 1836, William Buckland, Geology and Mineralogy, Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, volume 1, William Pickering, page 174:

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

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

• Afrikaans: gehoorbeentjie (af)
• Breton: askornig m
• Bulgarian: костица f (kostica)
• Catalan: ossicle (ca) m
• Czech: kůstka (cs) f, sluchová kůstka f
• Dutch: beentje (nl) n, gehoorbeentje n
• Finnish: kuuloluu (fi)
• French: osselet (fr) m
• German: Gehörknöchelchen (de) n
• Hungarian: hallócsont (hu) sg
• Italian: ossicino m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hestîkê bihîstinê m

• Polish: kosteczka (pl) f, kostka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ossículo (pt) m, ossinho m
• Spanish: huesecillo (es) m
• Ukrainian: кі́сточка f (kístočka), слухова́ кі́сточка f (sluxová kístočka, literally “auditory ossicle”)
• Walloon: oxhlet (wa) m
• Welsh: esgyrnyn m, asgyrnyn m
• Zazaki: binagos

bone-like plate

• Polish: płytka (wapienna) f

See also

• otolith

Anagrams

• loessic, scolies

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

Noun

ossicle m (plural ossicles)

1. ossicle (small bone)