mirabilia

[mee-rah-bil-i-ah, mir-uh-bil-ee-uh]

plural noun

Latin.

1. marvels; miracles.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mirabilia¹

First recorded in 1820–25; from Latin mīrābilia, a noun use of the neuter plural of the adjective mīrābilis “wonderful, marvelous, remarkable, singular”

Example Sentences

As described in a new paper published in Science, it’s all thanks to specialized networks of blood vessels known as “retia mirabilia.”

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Vogl speculates that the ancestors of cetaceans probably had retia mirabilia leading to the brain before they ever took to the oceans—but that this network served a different purpose on land.

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Flamingos are a classic example of animals that benefit from retia mirabilia, Kienle says.

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Indeed, retia mirabilia resemble complex stringy nets made up of thin veins and thick arteries.

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In most animals that have them, retia mirabilia serve as a mechanism for temperature regulation, and they have a unique structure.

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