modiolus

[moh-dahy-uh-luh s, muh-]

noun, plural mo·di·o·li

[moh-dahy-uh-lahy, muh-] /moʊˈdaɪ əˌlaɪ, mə-/. Anatomy.

the central, conical axis of the cochlea of the ear.

Origin of modiolus

1685–95; < New Latin, Latin: nave of a wheel bucket, drinking vessel, equivalent to modi(us) a dry measure (perhaps derivative of modus mode¹) + -olus -ole¹

Related formsmo·di·o·lar, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for modiolus

Historical Examples of modiolus

The Latin term for the trephine, modiolus, has the same meaning.
Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times
John Stewart Milne
Modiolus, mo-dī′o-lus, n. the central stem round which wind the passages of the cochlea of the internal ear.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various
At the extremity of the modiolus, the two passages communicate with each other.
A Treatise on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene (Revised Edition)
Calvin Cutter
Name from modiolus, the broad and depressed fruit resembling in shape the Roman measure of that name.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States
Asa Gray

British Dictionary definitions for modiolus

modiolus

noun plural -li (-ˌlaɪ)

the central bony pillar of the cochlea

Word Origin for modiolus

C19: New Latin, from Latin: hub of a wheel, from modus a measure

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

modiolus in Medicine

modiolus

[mō-dī′ə-ləs]

n. pl. mo•di•o•li (-lī′)

The central conical bony core of the cochlea of the ear.