tenaculum

[tuh-nak-yuh-luhm]

noun

plural

tenacula 

1. Surgery.,  a small sharp-pointed hook set in a handle, used for seizing and picking up parts in operations and dissections.

2. Entomology.,  a clasplike appendage on the abdomen of a springtail, which holds the springing device in place.

tenaculum

/ tɪˈnækjʊləm /

noun

1. a surgical or dissecting instrument for grasping and holding parts, consisting of a slender hook mounted in a handle

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenaculum¹

1685–95; < Latin tenāculum instrument for gripping, equivalent to ten ( ēre ) to hold + -ā- (from v. stems ending in -ā-; gubernaculum ) + -culum -cule ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenaculum¹

C17: from Late Latin, from Latin tenēre to hold

Example Sentences

To test these theories, the researchers caught and analyzed hundreds of fish, using micro-CT scans and tissue samples to document tenaculum development.

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Identifying this structure was compelling evidence that the teeth on the tenaculum really are teeth and not leftover denticles.

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Tissue samples revealed that the genes associated with teeth across vertebrates were expressed in the tenaculum, but not the denticles.

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In the fossil record, they also observed evidence of teeth on the tenaculum of related species.

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These teeth line a cartilage-based structure known as the tenaculum, a forehead appendage that loosely resembles Squidward's nose.

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