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• tarsus
  tarsus

  noun

  the bones of the proximal segment of the foot; the bones between the tibia and the metatarsus, contributing to the construction of the ankle joint.
• Tarsus
  Tarsus

  noun

  a city in S Turkey, near the Mediterranean, on the Cydnus River: important seaport of ancient Cilicia; birthplace of Saint Paul.

tarsus

¹ American  

[tahr-suhs] / ˈtɑr səs /

noun

• tarsi
  plural

1. Anatomy, Zoology. the bones of the proximal segment of the foot; the bones between the tibia and the metatarsus, contributing to the construction of the ankle joint.

2. the small plate of connective tissue along the border of an eyelid.

3. tarsometatarsus.

4. the distal part of the leg of an insect, usually subdivided in the adult into two to five segments.

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Tarsus ² American  

[tahr-suhs] / ˈtɑr səs /

noun

1. a city in S Turkey, near the Mediterranean, on the Cydnus River: important seaport of ancient Cilicia; birthplace of Saint Paul.

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tarsus ¹ British  

/ ˈtɑːsəs /

noun

1. the bones of the ankle and heel, collectively

2. 1. the corresponding part in other mammals and in amphibians and reptiles

   2. another name for tarsometatarsus

3. the dense connective tissue supporting the free edge of each eyelid

4. the part of an insect's leg that lies distal to the tibia

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Tarsus ² British  

/ ˈtɑːsəs /

noun

1. a city in SE Turkey, on the Tarsus River: site of ruins of ancient Tarsus, capital of Cilicia, and birthplace of St Paul. Pop: 231 000 (2005 est)

2. Ancient name: Cydnus. a river in SE Turkey, in Cilicia, rising in the Taurus Mountains and flowing south past Tarsus to the Mediterranean. Length: 153 km (95 miles)

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tarsus Scientific  

/ tär′səs /

• tarsi
  plural

1. The group of seven bones lying between the leg and the metatarsals and forming part of the ankle.

2. The group of bones lying between the leg and metatarsals in the hind feet in some vertebrates, such as dinosaurs and birds.

3. A fibrous plate that supports and shapes the edge of the eyelid.

4. The lower part of the leg of an arthropod, usually divided into segments.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tarsi
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tarsus

1670–80; < New Latin < Greek tarsós flat of the foot

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tarsus Tarsus tarsi

Some are sturdy leather brogues with heels extending beyond the back of the shoe; others have tongues that take their licks at the ankles, leaving even the slimmest tarsus looking like a giant redwood.

From Time Magazine Archive

To the tarsus succeeds the metatarsus, whose form reminds us very much of that of the metacarpals.

From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by ?douard Cuyer

Feet large, tarsus slender; fore toes long, united at base as far as first joint; claws moderate, but much curved; hind toe short, but with long curved claw.

From British Birds in their Haunts by Rev. C. A. Johns

Suffrago, suf-frā′gō, n. the joint between the tibia and tarsus, as the hock of a horse's hind-leg, the heel of a bird.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Hind toe articulated on the inner surface of the tarsus, united to other toes by a web.

From British Birds in their Haunts by Rev. C. A. Johns

This wasn’t really the plan, any more than Saul of Tarsus planned to become Paul the Apostle on the road to Damascus.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2023

Bruce includes an excerpt from the Apocalypse of Paul, an apocryphal third-century text that narrates a Revelation-style reverie experienced by Paul of Tarsus.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 14, 2019

The courthouse in the southern Turkish city of Tarsus is not big enough to hold them all, but hundreds of supporters massed outside as the first hearing got under way on Friday.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2015

Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus had no more electrifying revelation.

From Time ● Oct. 9, 2013

In 41 BCE, Mark Antony landed in Tarsus, a port city in Cilicia at the mouth of the Cydnus River.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby

This force relies on the parasite’s highly adapted feet, called tarsi, which are equipped with toothed claws.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 31, 2022

Bill short, cutting edges of the upper mandible nearly straight; tarsi naked; outer toe reversible; claws equal, rounded beneath; wings with the second primary longest.

From British Birds in their Haunts by Rev. C. A. Johns

The legs and feet are as well adapted for running or walking as for perching, and the scutellations are continued round the whole of the tarsi.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 6 "Home, Daniel" to "Hortensius, Quintus" by Various

The scutellum and the five-jointed tarsi at once remove it from Mallophaga, and it is a wonder that Le Conte and Horn have not more fully insisted on this fact.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 648, June 2, 1888. by Various

When free from the shell, the young birds rest on their tarsi, abdomen and forehead; their down dries in a few minutes, and their skin becomes noticeably darker.

From Comparative Breeding Behavior of Ammospiza caudacuta and A. maritima by Glen E. Woolfenden

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