pecten

American  

[pek-tuhn] / ˈpɛk tən /

noun

plural

pectens, pectines

1. Zoology, Anatomy.

   1. a comblike part or process.

   2. a pigmented vascular membrane with parallel folds suggesting the teeth of a comb, projecting into the vitreous humor of the eye in birds and reptiles.

2. any bivalve mollusk of the genus Pecten; scallop.

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pecten British  

/ ˈpɛktɪn /

noun

1. a comblike structure in the eye of birds and reptiles, consisting of a network of blood vessels projecting inwards from the retina, which it is thought to supply with oxygen

2. any other comblike part or organ

3. any scallop of the genus Pecten, which swim by expelling water from their shell valves in a series of snapping motions

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Etymology

Origin of pecten

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin pecten comb, rake, scallop, pubes, akin to pectere, Greek pékein to comb, card

Example Sentences

There is no pecten, but the numerous hyaloid arteries which are found in the embryo represent it.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1 "Evangelical Church Conference" to "Fairbairn, Sir William" by Various

The Stellaria holostea is "lady's white petticoat," and the Scandix pecten is "old wife's darning-needles."

From The Folk-lore of Plants by Dyer, T. F. Thiselton (Thomas Firminger Thiselton)

And day after day the creatures will grow more tame, the serpula will not dart back into his case when you approach, nor the pecten close his beautiful shell as your shadow passes over it.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 09, July, 1858 by Various

No body-pile or pecten ever grows upon the excoriated part which preserves through life a livid ashen hue.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 12 [Supplement] by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

From near the entrance of the optic nerve, through the original choroidal fissure, arises the much-folded pecten, deeply pigmented and very vascular, far into the vitreous humour.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various