emunctory

[ ih-muhngk-tuh-ree ]

noun,plural e·munc·to·ries.

a part or organ of the body, as the skin or a kidney, that functions in carrying off waste products.

adjective

excretory.

Origin of emunctory

1535–45; <New Latin ēmunctōrium (noun), ēmunctōrius (adj.), equivalent to Latin ēmung(ere) to wipe one's nose (ē-e-¹ + -mungere, akin to mūcusmucus) + -tōrium-tory², -tōrius-tory¹

Words Nearby emunctory

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use emunctory in a sentence

The stomach is not, like most glandular organs, a simple emunctory, and it is affected by medicines in a different way.
The Action of Medicines in the System | Frederick William Headland
In the first place, the secretion of sweat, like that of the lungs, cannot be considered as a common emunctory.
The Action of Medicines in the System | Frederick William Headland
emunctory, e-mungk′tor-i, n. an organ of the body that carries off waste: an excretory duct.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) | Various
A nose is "the prominence on the face which is the organ of scent, and the emunctory of the brain."
Deformities of Samuel Johnson, Selected from his Works | Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for emunctory

emunctory

/ (ɪˈmʌŋktərɪ, -trɪ) /

adjective

of or relating to a bodily organ or duct having an excretory function

nounplural -ries

an excretory organ or duct, such as a skin pore

Origin of emunctory

C16: from New Latin ēmunctōrium, from Latin ēmungere to wipe clean, from mungere to wipe

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

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