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Ostia

[os-tee-uh; Italian aw-styah]
noun
  1. a town in central Italy, SW of Rome: ruins from 4th century b.c.; site of ancient port of Rome.

ostium

[os-tee-uh m]
noun, plural os·ti·a [os-tee-uh] /ˈɒs ti ə/.
  1. Anatomy, Zoology. a small opening or orifice, as at the end of the oviduct.
  2. Zoology. one of the tiny holes in the body of a sponge.

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 of ostia

Historical Examples of ostia

  • Whereupon Paulus with his Isaurians came from Ostia and took possession of it and held it.

    Procopius

    Procopius

  • One man climbed into a tree and looked off in the direction of Ostia.

    Nero

    Jacob Abbott

  • He landed at Ostia, a small port near the mouth of it—the port, in fact, of Rome.

    Richard I

    Jacob 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 Rome

    Jacob Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for ostia

Ostia

noun
  1. 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

ostium

noun plural -tia (-tɪə) biology
  1. any of the pores in sponges through which water enters the body
  2. any of the openings in the heart of an arthropod through which blood enters
  3. any similar opening

Word Origin for ostium

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
ostia in Medicine

ostium

[ŏs′tē-əm]
n. pl. os•ti•a (-tē-ə)
  1. A small opening or orifice, as in a body organ.
Related formsos′ti•al adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.