acinus

[as-uh-nuhs]

noun

plural

acini 

1. Botany.,  one of the small drupelets or berries of an aggregate, baccate fruit, as the blackberry.

2. a berry, as a grape or currant.

3. Anatomy.

   1. a minute rounded lobule.

   2. the smallest secreting portion of a gland.

acinus

/ ˈæsɪnəs, əˈsɪnɪk /

noun

1. anatomy any of the terminal saclike portions of a compound gland

2. botany any of the small drupes that make up the fruit of the blackberry, raspberry, etc

3. obsolete,  botany a collection of berries, such as a bunch of grapes

Other Word Forms

• acinar adjective
• acinic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of acinus¹

1725–35; < Latin: grape, berry, seed of a berry

Word History and Origins

Origin of acinus¹

C18: New Latin, from Latin: grape, berry

Example Sentences

Consisting of acini, or minute granular concretions; as, acinose or acinous glands.

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If of several days' longer duration, purulent softening will be noticed in the centre of the acini; this gradually extends until each acinus is converted into a little sac of pus.

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The acini of the large liver of Nautilus are compacted into a solid reddish-brown mass by a firm 690 membrane, as also is the case in the Dibranchiata.

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The acini surrounded with a dense, cellular texture, paler than themselves; 2.

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Gelatinous or interacinous adenoma, which consists in an enlargement of the acini by an accumulation of colloid material, and an increase in the interacinous tissue by a growth of round cells.

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