appendage

[uh-pen-dij]

See more synonyms for appendage on Thesaurus.com

noun

a subordinate part attached to something; an auxiliary part; addition.
Anatomy, Zoology. any member of the body diverging from the axial trunk.
Botany, Mycology. any subsidiary part superadded to another part.

a person in a subordinate or dependent position, especially a servile or parasitic follower.

Origin of appendage

First recorded in 1640–50; append + -age

Related formsap·pend·aged, adjectiveun·ap·pend·aged, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for appendage

adjunct, supplement, projection, annex, extremity, protuberance, member, addition, appendix, attachment, addendum, appurtenance, auxiliary, ancillary

Examples from the Web for appendage

Contemporary Examples of appendage

So many were arrested in Leningrad, the poet Anna Akhmatova said, that the city “dangled like an appendage from its prisons….”
When Stalin Met Lady Macbeth
Brian Moynahan
November 9, 2014
Or, one of the measures might resurface as an appendage to an unrelated law.
Why Arizona is Retreating on its Immigration Law
Terry Greene Sterling
March 19, 2011
Bloggers brought another microphone to an already crowded GOP media table and became an appendage of talk radio.
Why the GOP Lost the Web Race
Eric Boehlert
May 20, 2009

Historical Examples of appendage

The subject is a great one and cannot be adequately treated as an appendage to another.
Timaeus
Plato
This appendage, there can be no doubt, originated with the basilicas of Italy.
Architecture
Thomas Roger Smith
Did it ever occur to you that it must be disagreeable to Watch to have such an appendage to his tail?
Paul Prescott's Charge
Horatio Alger
Proximal: that part of an appendage nearest the body: see distal.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology
John. B. Smith
Simple, Simplex: without process, armature, or appendage of any kind.
Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology
John. B. Smith

British Dictionary definitions for appendage

appendage

noun

an ancillary or secondary part attached to a main part; adjunct
zoology any organ that projects from the trunk of animals such as arthropods
botany any subsidiary part of a plant, such as a branch or leaf

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for appendage

1640s, from append + -age.

appendage in Medicine

appendage

[ə-pĕn′dĭj]

A part or organ attached to a main structure and subordinate in function or size.