scapula

American  

[skap-yuh-luh] / ˈskæp jə lə /

noun

scapulas, plural scapulae plural

1. Anatomy. either of two flat, triangular bones, each forming the back part of a shoulder in humans; shoulder blade.

2. Zoology. a dorsal bone of the pectoral girdle.

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scapula British  

/ ˈskæpjʊlə /

noun

1. Nontechnical name: shoulder blade.  either of two large flat triangular bones, one on each side of the back part of the shoulder in man

2. the corresponding bone in most vertebrates

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scapula Scientific  

/ skăp′yə-lə /

scapulae plural

1. Either of two flat, triangular bones forming part of the shoulder. In humans and other primates, the scapulae lie on the upper part of the back on either side of the spine.

2. Also called shoulder blade

3. See more at skeleton

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• scapulae
  plural
• scapulas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scapula

1570–80; < Latin: shoulder

Explanation

Your scapula is your shoulder blade. The scapula connects the collar bone to the upper arm. The scapula is the anatomical term for the flat, triangle-shaped bone that makes up a human's shoulder. Other animals have similar bones, often described as scapular. The word scapula means "shoulder" in Late Latin, from the Latin root scapulae, or "shoulder blades." One guess about the word's origin says the original meaning of scapulae was "spades or shovels," based on their similar shapes.

Example Sentences

The other Britons, under the command of Caractacus, still maintained an obstinate resistance, and the Romans made little progress against them; till Ostorius Scapula was sent over to command their armies.

From The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part A. From the Britons of Early Times to King John by Hume, David

Scapula, shoulder blade 2 B. Upper extremities, 60.

From Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools by Walters, Francis M.

In 43 A. D. his legates Aulus Plautius, Vespasian and Ostorius Scapula subdued the island as far as the Thames, and in the following years extended their conquests farther northward.

From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Boak, Arthur Edward Romilly

Scapula of the Human Being, Posterior Surface, placed in the Position which it would Occupy in the Skeleton of a Quadruped.

From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by Cuyer, ?douard