somite

American  

[soh-mahyt] / ˈsoʊ maɪt /

noun

1. any of the longitudinal series of segments or parts into which the body of certain animals is divided; a metamere.

2. Embryology. one member of a series of paired segments into which the thickened dorsal zone of mesoderm is divided.

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somite British  

/ ˈsəʊmaɪt /

noun

1. embryol any of a series of dorsal paired segments of mesoderm occurring along the notochord in vertebrate embryos. It develops into muscle and bone in the adult animal

2. zoology another name for metamere

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Other Word Forms

• somital
  adjective
• somitic
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of somite

First recorded in 1865–70; som(a) ¹ + -ite ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

somite

By the fourth week, mesoderm tissue located on either side of the notochord thickens and separates into a repeating series of block-like tissue structures, each of which is called a somite.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

Which do you consider the most specialized, and why?Which somite of the crayfish is without appendages?

From A Guide for the Study of Animals by Frederic Lucas

Diprosthomerous in the adult condition, though embryologically the appendages of somite II and the somite itself are, as here drawn, not actually in front of the mouth.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

Merosome, mer′ō-sōm, n. one of the serial segments of which a body is composed, as the ring of a worm, a metamere, a somite.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

The third somite as well as the second develops a pair of parapodial jaws; the first somite is a prosthomere carrying jointed antennae.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

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