stapes

[ stey-peez ]

/ ˈsteɪ piz /

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noun, plural sta·pes, sta·pe·des

[stuh-pee-deez]. /stəˈpi diz/. Anatomy.

the innermost, stirrup-shaped bone of a chain of three small bones in the middle ear of humans and other mammals, involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear.

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Also called stirrup .

Compare incus (def. 1), malleus.

Origin of stapes

First recorded in 1660–70; from New Latin stapēs, Medieval Latin: “stirrup,” perhaps etymologizing alteration of Italian staffa “stirrup” (from Germanic ) by association with Latin stāre “to stand,” and pēs, stem ped- “foot”; see foot

OTHER WORDS FROM stapes

sta·pe·di·al

[stuh-pee-dee-uhl], /stəˈpi di əl/, adjective

Words nearby stapes

Stanton, Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, stanza, stapedectomy, stapelia, stapes, staph, staphylinid, staphylo-, staphylococcus, staphyloplasty

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use stapes in a sentence

The third ear-ossicle of mammals, the stapes, comes not from the first arch but from the second.
Form and Function|E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
Even then it may be anatomically impossible to see the stapes.
A System of Operative Surgery, Volume IV (of 4)|Various
In the latter (Ambystoma) the nerve is beneath, and in the former (Rana) above, the stapes.
The Ancestry of Modern Amphibia: A Review of the Evidence|Theodore H. Eaton
Sometimes the term columella is used to include the whole ossicular chain,—the columella together with the stapes.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds

The stapes is very much like a reptilian columella, having a single crus with no perforation.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for stapes

stapes

/ (ˈsteɪpiːz) /

noun plural stapes or stapedes (stæˈpiːdiːz)

the stirrup-shaped bone that is the innermost of three small bones in the middle ear of mammalsNontechnical name: stirrup bone Compare incus, malleus

Derived forms of stapes

stapedial (stæˈpiːdɪəl), adjective

Word Origin for stapes

C17: via New Latin from Medieval Latin, perhaps a variant of staffa, stapeda stirrup, influenced in form by Latin stāre to stand + pēs a foot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for stapes

stapes

[ stā′pēz ]

Plural stapes stapedes (stā′pĭ-dēz′)

The roughly stirrup-shaped bone that is the innermost of the three small bones (ossicles) of the middle ear.