patella
Americannoun
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patellas,
plural
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patellae
plural
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Anatomy. the flat, movable bone at the front of the knee; kneecap.
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Biology. a panlike or cuplike formation.
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Zoology. any limpet of the family Patellidae.
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Archaeology. a small pan or shallow vessel.
noun
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Nontechnical name: kneecap. anatomy a small flat triangular bone in front of and protecting the knee joint
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biology a cuplike structure, such as the spore-producing body of certain ascomycetous fungi
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archaeol a small pan
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of patella
1665–75; < Latin, diminutive of patina, patena pan, literally, something wide open. See paten, -elle
Explanation
The patella is the protective bone at the front of your knee. Next time you bang your leg on the edge of the coffee table, you can say, "Ow, my patella!" The patella is more commonly called a "kneecap." This bone resembles a triangle with rounded corners, perfectly shaped to protect your knee joint from injury. When you were born, your patella was just soft cartilage, but it hardened as you grew. Like humans, many other animals also have patellas, including mice, dogs — and even birds!
Vocabulary lists containing patella
Gross, Anatomy!
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - High School
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Though Ohtani underwent surgery on the same knee in 2019, that was to address bipartite patella, on the other side of the knee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
“I’ve been dealing with patella tendinitis the entire season but over the weeks the pain has decreased,” Webster said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2025
It isn’t on the usual ‘wallet-phone-keys’ checklist, but, if you can’t locate a patella, it quickly becomes a pressing concern.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2024
Seidel revealed Thursday on Instagram that she hurt her knee about a month ago and an MRI showed she had a fractured patella and partially torn patellar tendon.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
It starts: Your decision not to have surgery means that realistically, with patella tendonitis, you may not be able to play again.
From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander
Sesamoid bones, such as the patellae, are small and round, and are located in tendons.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Although her patellas have hamstring tendons from cadavers, Flanagan has come through the eclipse stronger than she expected.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 3, 2021
“His patellas are not really attached to anything,” Gardner says.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 2, 2018
He came out of the dance with both patellas bruised.
From What Will People Say? A novel by Hughes, Rupert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
