caecum

American  

[see-kuhm] / ˈsi kəm /

noun

plural

caeca

1. cecum.

---

caecum British  

/ ˈsiːkəm /

noun

1. anatomy any structure or part that ends in a blind sac or pouch, esp the pouch that marks the beginning of the large intestine

---

Other Word Forms

• caecal adjective
• caecally adverb
• postcaecal adjective
• subcaecal adjective

Etymology

Origin of caecum

C18: short for Latin intestinum caecum blind intestine, translation of Greek tuphlon enteron

Example Sentences

Doctors said the pressure of the magnets had caused necrosis -- tissue death -- in four areas of the boy's small bowel and caecum, which is part of the large intestine.

From Barron's • Oct. 24, 2025

The term caecal contents refers to the material found inside the caecum, a pouch located at the beginning of the large intestine.

From Science Daily • Oct. 21, 2025

The tongue is thickly covered with sharp, pointed, recurved horny papillae; and the caecum is small and simple.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various

From the caecum the large intestine passes in a ventro-caudal direction, with gradually decreasing caliber, to the cloaca, from whose anterior wall the intromittent organ, io, projects.

From Development of the Digestive Canal of the American Alligator by Reese, C. M.

Now cut oesophagus just in front of stomach, and cut the rectum, cut through the mesentery supporting the intestine, and remove and unravel alimentary canal; cut open, wash out, and examine caecum and stomach.

From Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)