Ostia
[os-tee-uh; Italian aw-styah]
- a town in central Italy, SW of Rome: ruins from 4th century b.c.; site of ancient port of Rome.
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ostium
[os-tee-uh m]
- Anatomy, Zoology. a small opening or orifice, as at the end of the oviduct.
- Zoology. one of the tiny holes in the body of a sponge.
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Origin of ostium
First recorded in 1655–65, ostium is from the Latin word ōstium entrance, river mouth
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ostia
Contemporary Examples
Like many discoveries, the new part of Ostia Antica was found by accident.
Historical Examples
Whereupon Paulus with his Isaurians came from Ostia and took possession of it and held it.
ProcopiusProcopius
One man climbed into a tree and looked off in the direction of Ostia.
NeroJacob Abbott
He landed at Ostia, a small port near the mouth of it—the port, in fact, of Rome.
Richard IJacob Abbott
But the death of Monica at Ostia in Italy changed his plans.
The answer was, that Copley had gone down the river to Ostia with another boy.
Rollo in RomeJacob Abbott
Ostia
- an ancient town in W central Italy, originally at the mouth of the Tiber but now about 6 km (4 miles) inland: served as the port of ancient Rome; harbours built by Claudius and Trajan; ruins excavated since 1854
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ostium
- any of the pores in sponges through which water enters the body
- any of the openings in the heart of an arthropod through which blood enters
- any similar opening
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin: door, entrance
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
ostium
(ŏs′tē-əm)- A small opening or orifice, as in a body organ.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.