scapula

American  

[skap-yuh-luh] / ˈskæp jə lə /

noun

scapulas, plural scapulae plural

1. Anatomy. either of two flat, triangular bones, each forming the back part of a shoulder in humans; shoulder blade.

2. Zoology. a dorsal bone of the pectoral girdle.

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scapula British  

/ ˈskæpjʊlə /

noun

1. Nontechnical name: shoulder blade.  either of two large flat triangular bones, one on each side of the back part of the shoulder in man

2. the corresponding bone in most vertebrates

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scapula Scientific  

/ skăp′yə-lə /

scapulae plural

1. Either of two flat, triangular bones forming part of the shoulder. In humans and other primates, the scapulae lie on the upper part of the back on either side of the spine.

2. Also called shoulder blade

3. See more at skeleton

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• scapulae
  plural
• scapulas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scapula

1570–80; < Latin: shoulder

Explanation

Your scapula is your shoulder blade. The scapula connects the collar bone to the upper arm. The scapula is the anatomical term for the flat, triangle-shaped bone that makes up a human's shoulder. Other animals have similar bones, often described as scapular. The word scapula means "shoulder" in Late Latin, from the Latin root scapulae, or "shoulder blades." One guess about the word's origin says the original meaning of scapulae was "spades or shovels," based on their similar shapes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scapula scapulae scapulas

Belgian Evenepoel, the 2022 Vuelta a Espana winner, suffered a fracture to his right collarbone and his right scapula and will have an operation on his collarbone.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2024

But in his third MLB start on Aug. 20, Hancock felt a familiar twinge in the back of his shoulder near the scapula.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

Two minutes after we arrived, I looked down and sure enough, there was a human femur and scapula.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 30, 2023

Schanuel is nursing a sore scapula, though is hoping to be back soon after getting the last two games off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2023

The scapula is, in this case, of a more compact type; it is broader, but shorter.

From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by Cuyer, ?douard

Medieval Europeans prized beavers’ fatty tail meat as “forest cod,” and some Indigenous tribes fashioned their teeth into dice and used their scapulae as digging tools.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 1, 2022

Injuries to carpals, humerus, radius, ulna, clavicle, metacarpals, phalanges and various flat bones like scapulae would cause issues.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

Depression is the opposite of elevation—movement downward of a bone, such as after the shoulders are shrugged and the scapulae return to their normal position from an elevated position.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

Woods has never met Golf Digest Visuals Editor Jenny Aborn, but of course notices the tiger tattoo stretching across her scapulae.

From Golf Digest ● Jan. 2, 2018

Lateral lobes: the deflexed portions of pronotum that cover the sides of pro-thorax in many Orthoptera: in certain Hymenoptera, lie on each side of the parapsidal furrows of mesoscutum and = scapulae.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

Figure 11.14 Posterior and Lateral Views of the Neck The superficial and deep muscles of the neck are responsible for moving the head, cervical vertebrae, and scapulas.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

All the indulgences which I sold in Philadelphia were called scapulas.

From Popery! As it Was and as it Is Also, Auricular Confession; And Popish Nunneries by Hogan, William

I will give you an idea of the revenue arising from the sale of those scapulas in the United States, by stating to you the price at which I sold them.

From Popery! As it Was and as it Is Also, Auricular Confession; And Popish Nunneries by Hogan, William