corpuscle

American  

[kawr-puhs-uhl] / ˈkɔr pʌs əl /

Also corpuscule

noun

1. Biology. an unattached cell, especially of a kind that floats freely, as a blood or lymph cell.

2. Anatomy. a small mass or body forming a more or less distinct part, as the sensory receptors at nerve terminals.

3. Physical Chemistry. a minute or elementary particle of matter, as an electron, proton, or atom.

4. any minute particle.

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corpuscle British  

/ ˈkɔːpʌsəl, kɔːˈpʌskjʊlə /

noun

1. any cell or similar minute body that is suspended in a fluid, esp any of the red blood corpuscles (erythrocytes) or white blood corpuscles (see leucocytes) See also erythrocyte leucocyte

2. anatomy the encapsulated ending of a sensory nerve

3. physics a discrete particle such as an electron, photon, ion, or atom

4. Also called: corpuscule.  any minute particle

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Other Word Forms

• corpuscular adjective
• corpusculated adjective
• corpusculous adjective

Etymology

Origin of corpuscle

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin corpusculum, equivalent to corpus “body” + -culum -cle ¹

Explanation

The word corpuscle is a medical term for a living cell, such as a red blood cell. You're most likely to come across the noun corpuscle in a biology class, since it means a small cell, especially one that is free floating. Blood and lymph cells are both considered to be corpuscles because they are suspended in liquid within the body. Sometimes the word is used to mean simply "a small piece of something," which is how corpuscle was originally used, rooted in the Latin corpusculum, "a puny body, an atom, or a particle."

Example Sentences

There are four primary tactile mechanoreceptors in human skin: Merkel’s disks, Meissner’s corpuscles, Ruffini endings, and Pacinian corpuscle; two are located toward the surface of the skin and two are located deeper.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

“Is there in our parks any tree more elegant and leafy than the Purkinje corpuscle of the cerebellum or the psychic cell, in other words, the famous cerebral pyramid?” he asked.

From Scientific American • Apr. 9, 2022

I used to work as a delivery driver, a job that took me all around the city, my car a tiny corpuscle traveling through the vast bloodstream of Washington.

From Washington Post • Dec. 22, 2021

One of these receptors, the Pacinian corpuscle, responds to pressure and vibration.

From The Guardian • Feb. 28, 2021

The hardest part was that every corpuscle of Jamie’s nine-year-old self was throbbing with readiness to run, and he had to bind up all that energy into a quiet lump.

From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg

Related Words

• bacterium
• egg
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