tarsus

See also: Tarsle

English

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin tarsus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑː.səs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑɹ.səs/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)səs

Noun

tarsus (plural tarsi)

1. (anatomy, zootomy) The part between the main part of the hindlimb and the metatarsus in terrestrial vertebrates.
   1. (anatomy) A group of small bones in this part of the foot. The seven bones of the human tarsus form the ankle and upper part of the foot.

      Hyponyms: talus, calcaneus, navicular bone, cuboid bone, lateral cuneiform bone, intermediate cuneiform bone, medial cuneiform bone

   2. (zootomy) The shank or tarsometatarsus of the leg of a bird or reptile.
      • 2020, Tim Ecott, The Land of Maybe, Short Books, published 2021, page 99:

        On the ledge, the guillemots shuffle awkwardly about on their tarsi, the long bone connecting the ‘ankle’ to the feet.

   3. (zootomy) The true foot or the fifth joint of the leg of an insect or other arthropod, typically consisting of several small segments and ending in a claw.
2. (anatomy) A plate of dense connective tissue found in each eyelid, attached to either the superior tarsal muscle (in the upper eyelid) or inferior tarsal muscle (lower eyelid), which aid with sympathetic control.

Derived terms

• apicotarsus
• basitarsus
• distitarsus
• epitarsus
• foretarsus
• hypotarsus
• mesotarsus
• metatarsus
• pretarsus
• protarsus
• tarsal
• telotarsus
• tibiotarsus

 

Related terms

• acrotarsium
• tarsometatarsus

Translations

the part of the foot between the main part of the hindlimb and the metatarsus

• Aleut: kitax̂
• Arabic: رُصُغ (ruṣuḡ)
• Bulgarian: пищял (bg) m (pištjal)
• Catalan: tars (ca) m
• Czech: zánártí (cs) n
• Finnish: nilkka (fi) (humans), kinttu (fi) (animals)
• French: tarse (fr) m
• German: Fußwurzel (de) f, Tarsus m
• Hungarian: lábtő (hu)
• Polish: stęp (pl) m
• Portuguese: tarso (pt) m
• Russian: предплюсна́ (ru) f (predpljusná)
• Slovak: priehlavok (sk) m

any of the seven bones in this part of the foot

• Bulgarian: глезен (bg) m (glezen)
• Finnish: nilkkaluu (fi)
• French: tarse (fr) m
• Polish: stęp (pl) m

References

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

Anagrams

• Asturs, Rastus, Straus, Surats, Sūtras, surats, sutras, sūtras, tussar

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek τᾰρσός (tarsós, “the flat of the foot; the edge of the eyelid and its lashes”). Has been compared with Armenian թառ (tʻaṙ, “bar for drying grapes”), Old High German darra (“apparatus for drying fruits”), Swedish tarre (“frame for drying malts”), suggesting a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“to dry”). However, for phonetic reasons this is uncertain.

Pronunciation

• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈtar.sus/, [ˈt̪ärsus]

Noun

tarsus m (genitive tarsī); second declension (New Latin)

1. (anatomy) The flat part of the foot.
2. (anatomy) The edge of the eyelid.

Inflection

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	tarsus	tarsī
Genitive	tarsī	tarsōrum
Dative	tarsō	tarsīs
Accusative	tarsum	tarsōs
Ablative	tarsō	tarsīs
Vocative	tarse	tarsī

Derived terms

• tarsālis (adjective)

Descendants

• → Catalan: tars
• → English: tarsus
• → Spanish: tarso