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apterium

American

[ap-teer-ee-uhm] / æpˈtɪər i əm /

noun

Ornithology.

one of the featherless portions of the skin of a bird.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

apterial

adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

apteria

plural

Etymology

Origin of apterium

From New Latin, dating back to 1865–70; see origin at a- ⁶, pter-, -ium

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But, the male loses most of the down feathers of the ventral apterium.

From Natural History of the Bell Vireo, Vireo bellii Audubon by Barlow, Jon C.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.