plica

American  

[plahy-kuh] / ˈplaɪ kə /

noun

plural

plicae

1. Zoology, Anatomy. a fold or folding.

2. Also called plica polonica.  Pathology. a matted, filthy condition of the hair, caused by disease, vermin, etc.

3. (in medieval music) a vertical mark attached to a neume, standing for an interpolated melodic ornament.

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plica British  

/ ˈplaɪkə /

noun

1. Also called: fold.  anatomy a folding over of parts, such as a fold of skin, muscle, peritoneum, etc

2. pathol a condition of the hair characterized by matting, filth, and the presence of parasites

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Other Word Forms

• plical adjective

Etymology

Origin of plica

1675–85; < Medieval Latin: a fold, back formation from Latin plicāre to fold, ply ²

Example Sentences

“There’s an expression in Latin for this: plica polonica,” she told me later.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 29, 2019

Noel has been experiencing soreness and, after consulting with several specialists, elected to have inflamed plica removed from his knee, the Sixers announced.

From Washington Times • Oct. 21, 2016

Eyes will seem “unnervingly large” — as least from our viewpoint today — and will feature eye-shine and even a sideways blink from the re-introduced plica semilunaris to further protect from cosmic ray effects.

From Forbes • Jun. 7, 2013

A sideways blink of the reintroduced plica semilunaris seen in the light gray areas of the eyes, while miniature bone-conduction devices implanted above the ear work with the communications lenses on the eyes.

From Forbes • Jun. 7, 2013

Another typical vestigial structure is the plica semi-lunaris, the remnant of the nictitating membrane characteristic of nearly the whole vertebrate sub-kingdom.

From McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1 by Various