acetabulum

American  

[as-i-tab-yuh-luhm] / ˌæs ɪˈtæb jə ləm /

noun

• acetabula
  plural

1. Anatomy. the socket in the hipbone that receives the head of the thighbone.

2. Zoology. any of the suction appendages of a leech, octopus, etc.

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acetabulum British  

/ ˌæsɪˈtæbjʊləm /

noun

1. the deep cuplike cavity on the side of the hipbone that receives the head of the thighbone

2. a round muscular sucker in flatworms, leeches, and cephalopod molluscs

3. the aperture in the thorax of an insect that holds the leg

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• acetabular
  adjective
• postacetabular
  adjective
• preacetabular
  adjective
• subacetabular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• acetabula
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of acetabulum

1660–70; < Latin: hip socket, cup-shaped part of a plant (Pliny), literally, small cup, originally for vinegar, equivalent to acēt ( um ) vinegar + -ā- by analogy with verbal derivatives ( cf. vocable) + -bulum suffix denoting instrument or vessel

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

acetabulum acetabula

McCarthy’s voluminous research is everywhere on the page — and, yes, very impressive — but you may find yourself stopping to look up supercavitation, acetabulum or festination only to turn back having forgotten what’s happening.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 15, 2021

The head of the femur becomes abnormally shaped and no longer fits seamlessly in the acetabulum, or socket, putting the hip at risk of future injury.

From Washington Post ● May 15, 2017

The acetabulum is further deepened by the acetabular labrum, a fibrocartilage lip attached to the outer margin of the acetabulum.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

The ligaments are tightened by extension at the hip, thus pulling the head of the femur tightly into the acetabulum when in the upright, standing position.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

That part of the capsule which arises from the lower margin of the acetabulum stretches across the socket and partly shuts it off from the rest of the joint cavity.

From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles

For one thing, walking would expend more energy if the heads of the femurs were not secured in the acetabula of the pelvis.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

When he was but a child he was constantly tumbling down, due to the heads of the femurs slipping from the acetabula, but reduction was always easy.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle

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