phalanges
Origin of phalanges
phalange
- a phalanx.
Origin of phalange
phalanx
- (in ancient Greece) a group of heavily armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep, with shields joined and long spears overlapping.
- any body of troops in close array.
- a number of individuals, especially persons united for a common purpose.
- a compact or closely massed body of persons, animals, or things.
- Military. (initial capital letter) a radar-controlled U.S. Navy 20mm Gatling-type gun deployed on ships as a last line of defense against antiship cruise missiles.
- (in Fourierism) a group of about 1800 persons, living together and holding their property in common.
- Anatomy, Zoology. any of the bones of the fingers or toes.
- Printing. to arrange the distribution of work in a shop as evenly as possible.
Origin of phalanx
Examples from the Web for phalanges
Historical Examples
The digit, d1, which stands as hallux is fully formed and has three phalanges.
Problems of GeneticsWilliam Bateson
Three of the rings and three phalanges are shown in plate 14.
The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British HondurasThomas William Francis Gann
It has only two phalanges, while each of the other digits has three.
The Vertebrate SkeletonSidney H. Reynolds
The other digits, of which the third is the longest, have each three phalanges.
The Vertebrate SkeletonSidney H. Reynolds
In Swifts the third and fourth toes have only three phalanges.
The Vertebrate SkeletonSidney H. Reynolds
phalange
- anatomy another name for phalanx (def. 5)
Word Origin
phalanx
- an ancient Greek and Macedonian battle formation of hoplites presenting long spears from behind a wall of overlapping shields
- any closely ranked unit or mass of peoplethe police formed a phalanx to protect the embassy
- a number of people united for a common purpose
- (in Fourierism) a group of approximately 1800 persons forming a commune in which all property is collectively owned
- anatomy any of the bones of the fingers or toesRelated adjective: phalangeal
- botany
- a bundle of stamens, joined together by their stalks (filaments)
- a form of vegetative spread in which the advance is on a broad front, as in the common reedCompare guerrilla
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for phalanges
phalanx
n.
1550s, "line of battle in close ranks," from Latin phalanx "compact body of heavily armed men in battle array," or directly from Greek phalanx (genitive phalangos) "line of battle, battle array," also "finger or toe bone," originally "round piece of wood, trunk, log," of unknown origin. Perhaps from PIE root *bhelg- "plank, beam" (cf. Old English balca "balk;" see balk (n.)). The Macedonian phalanx consisted of 50 close files of 16 men each. In anatomy, originally the whole row of finger joints, which fit together like infantry in close order. Figurative sense of "number of persons banded together in a common cause" is attested from 1600 (cf. Spanish Falangist, member of a fascist organization founded in 1933).
phalange
n.
mid-15c., "phalanx, ancient military division," from Middle French phalange "phalanx" (13c.), from Latin phalangem (nominative phalanx); see phalanx. It is the earlier form of this word in English.
phalanx
(fā′lăngks′, făl′ăngks′)- Any of the long bones of the fingers or toes, numbering 14 for each hand or foot: two for the thumb or big toe, and three each for the other four digits.
phalanx
- Any of the small bones of the fingers or toes in humans or the digits of many other vertebrates.