marsupium

[ mahr-soo-pee-uh m ]

/ mɑrˈsu pi əm /

noun, plural mar·su·pi·a [mahr-soo-pee-uh] /mɑrˈsu pi ə/.

the pouch or fold of skin on the abdomen of a female marsupial.

Nearby words

marsupial, marsupial bone, marsupial mole, marsupial mouse, marsupialization, marsupium, marsyas, mart, marta, martaban, martagon

Origin of marsupium

1690–1700; < New Latin, variant of Latin marsuppium pouch, purse < Greek marsýppion, diminutive of mársippos a bag, pouch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for marsupium

These are distinguished by the possession of a permanent nursery-pocket, the "marsupium."
Stories of the Universe: Animal Life|B. Lindsay
Name a diminutive of marsupium, a pouch, from the form of the perianth.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States|Asa Gray
These bones however have no connection with the marsupium, being nearly equally developed in both male and female.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds
Mammals belonging to quite different Orders show traces more or less marked of a marsupium.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard

That there is more than one pouch makes a comparison with the mammary pouch rather than with the marsupium probable.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard

British Dictionary definitions for marsupium

marsupium

/ (mɑːˈsjuːpɪəm, -ˈsuː-) /

noun plural -pia (-pɪə)

an external pouch in most female marsupials within which the newly born offspring are suckled and complete their development

Word Origin for marsupium

C17: New Latin, from Latin: purse, from Greek marsupion, diminutive of marsipos

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