ossicle

[ os-i-kuhl ]

noun

1. a small bone.

ossicle

/ ˈɒsɪkəl; ɒˈsɪkjʊlə /

noun

1. a small bone, esp one of those in the middle ear

ossicle

/ ŏs′ĭ-kəl /

1. A small bone, especially one of the three located in the middle ear (the incus, malleus, and stapes) that transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear.

Derived Forms

• ossicular, adjective

Other Words From

• os·sic·u·lar [o-, sik, -y, uh, -ler], os·sic·u·late [o-, sik, -y, uh, -lit], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ossicle¹

1570–80; < Latin ossiculum, equivalent to ossi- (combining form of os ) bone + -culum -cle ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ossicle¹

C16: from Latin ossiculum, from os bone

Example Sentences

In the ossicles, the atomic pattern and the diamondlike lattice align in a way that compensates for calcite’s intrinsic weakness.

From Science News

Li’s team is studying live knobby starfish, surveying the chemistry of how ossicles form.

From Science News

The third ear-ossicle of mammals, the stapes, comes not from the first arch but from the second.

From Project Gutenberg

A vertical section of an ossicle presents exactly the same features as the horizontal section now described.

From Project Gutenberg

There is no tympanic cavity or auditory ossicle in relation to the ear.

From Project Gutenberg

The parietal sagittal arc, including the region where there was probably a supra-lambdoid ossicle, was about 140 mm.

From Project Gutenberg

The next two phalanges were separate, and sometimes kept widely apart from each other by the introduction of a special ossicle.

From Project Gutenberg