septum

English

Alternative forms

• saeptum, sæptum (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sēptum (“enclosure, wall, fence”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛp.təm/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈsep.təm/
• Rhymes: -ɛptəm

Noun

septum (plural septa or septums)

1. (biology) A wall separating two cavities; a partition.

   Synonym: dissepiment

   1. (anatomy) Ellipsis of nasal septum: the cartilaginous center wall of the nose separating the two nostrils.
      • 2002, Springhouse, Illustrated Manual of Nursing Practice, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, page 1158:

        Deviated septum, a shift from the midline that commonly occurs in normal growth, is present in most adults.

      • 2008, Neil Cicierega (lyrics and music), “Modify”, in View-Monster, performed by Lemon Demon:

        Sally got a dagger hung from her septum
        O'Malley cut his ears off, but wishes that he kept 'em

   2. (anatomy) Either of the two walls that separate the atria or ventricles of the heart into left and right chambers.
   3. (botany) A partition that separates the cells of a fruit.
   4. (mycology) A partition that separates the cells of a (septated) fungus.
   5. (zoology) One of the radial calcareous plates of a coral.
   6. (zoology) One of the transverse partitions dividing the shell of a mollusk, or of a rhizopod, into several chambers.
   7. (zoology) One of the transverse partitions dividing the body cavity of an annelid.
2. (colloquial) Ellipsis of septum ring or septum piercing.

   Look, I got a new septum!

Hyponyms

• nasal septum
• interventricular septum
• septum pellucidum

Derived terms

• anteroseptum
• apicoseptum
• distoseptum
• euseptum
• inferoseptum
• interseptum
• midseptum
• posteroseptum
• pseudoseptum
• sarcoseptum
• septal
• septate
• septectomy
• septile
• septo-
• septumless
• septum piercing
• septum ring
• superoseptum

 

Translations

(anatomy) wall separating two cavities

• Catalan: septe (ca) m, envà (ca) m
• Czech: přepážka (cs) f
• Finnish: väliseinä (fi)
• German: Septum (de) n
• Greek: διάφραγμα (el) n (diáfragma)
• Italian: setto (it)
• Kaurna: mudlhayala
• Maori: taunga (of the nose), pātaki, pātakitaki
• Polish: przegroda (pl) f
• Portuguese: septo m
• Russian: перегоро́дка (ru) f (peregoródka)
• Spanish: tabique (es) m
• Welsh: septwm m, teisban f (of the nose)

(botany) partition separating the cells of a fruit

• Catalan: septe (ca) m
• Finnish: väliseinä (fi)

(mycology) partition separating the cells of a fungus

• Finnish: väliseinä (fi)
• German: Septum (de) n, Septe f
• Swedish: septum (sv) n (scientific; pl. septa)

(zoology) radial calcareous plate of a coral

• Finnish: väliseinä (fi)

(zoology) transverse partition dividing the shell chambers of a mollusc or rhizopod

• Finnish: väliseinä (fi)

(zoology) transverse partition dividing the body cavity of an annelid

• Finnish: väliseinä (fi)

ellipsis of septum ring or septum piercing

• Spanish: septum m

References

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

Anagrams

• spetum

French

Noun

septum m (plural septums)

1. (biology) septum

Further reading

• “septum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈseːp.tum/, [ˈs̠eːpt̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsep.tum/, [ˈsɛpt̪um]

Noun

sēptum n (genitive sēptī); second declension

1. Alternative form of saeptum.

Descendants

• → English: septum

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English septum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsebtum/ [ˈseβ̞.t̪ũm]
• Rhymes: -ebtum
• Syllabification: sep‧tum

Noun

septum m (plural septums)

1. septum (septum ring or septum piercing)

Usage notes

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.