stapes

American  

[stey-peez] / ˈsteɪ piz /

noun

Anatomy.

plural

stapes, stapedes

1. 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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stapes British  

/ ˈsteɪpiːz, stæˈpiːdɪəl /

noun

1. Nontechnical name: stirrup bone.  the stirrup-shaped bone that is the innermost of three small bones in the middle ear of mammals Compare incus malleus

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stapes Scientific  

/ stā′pēz /

plural

stapes

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

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Other Word Forms

• stapedial adjective

Etymology

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”; foot

Example Sentences

Medicals historians have speculated that otosclerosis—a condition in which a tiny ear bone called the stapes fuses with other parts of the ear—might have been responsible for Beethoven’s hearing loss.

From Scientific American

When those sound waves hit your eardrum, it vibrates and that vibration is sent behind your eardrum to three tiny bones - the malleus, the incus and the stapes, the smallest bone in your body.

From BBC

These bones shifted slightly internally to form a middle ear together with a bone called the stapes, which was present in mammalian ancestors.

From Nature

Police say on March 17 the 36-year-old Alexander threw a mug at his mother in the family home, opening a wound that required three stapes to close.

From Seattle Times

Earliest known mammalian stapes from an early cretaceous eutriconodontan mammal and implications for evolution of mammalian middle ear.

From Nature