lacteal

[lak-tee-uhl]

adjective

1. pertaining to, consisting of, or resembling milk; milky.

2. Anatomy.,  conveying or containing chyle.

noun

1. Anatomy.,  any of the minute lymphatic vessels that convey chyle from the small intestine to the thoracic duct.

lacteal

/ ˈlæktɪəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling milk

2. (of lymphatic vessels) conveying or containing chyle

noun

1. any of the lymphatic vessels conveying chyle from the small intestine to the thoracic duct

Other Word Forms

• lacteally adverb
• nonlacteal adjective
• nonlacteally adverb
• prelacteal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lacteal¹

1625–35; < Latin lacte ( us ) milky ( lacteous ) + -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of lacteal¹

C17: from Latin lacteus of milk, from lac milk

Example Sentences

According to them, it is “the lacteal secretion of a healthy, hooved mammal.”

Read more on The Guardian

Knight’s bill defines milk as the “lacteal secretion” from a list of animals that includes cows, water buffalo, sheep, goats, yaks, deer, reindeer, moose, horses and donkeys.

Read more on Washington Times

The FDA bristled and provided the federal definition of milk as a “lacteal secretion” from cows.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Those vary from the obvious — such as the oft-referenced milk is “the lacteal secretion” of cows — to more obscure requirements on the presence of additives and emulsifiers.

Read more on Washington Post

To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe; as a sponge or as the lacteals of the body.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• frosted 
• opaque 
• pearly