stapes

[ stey-peez ]

/ ˈsteɪ piz /

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.Also called stirrup.Compare incus(def 1), malleus.

Nearby words

Origin of stapes

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

Related formssta·pe·di·al

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stapes

In the Carnivora vera the incus and stapes are small as compared with the malleus, but in the Pinnipedia they are large.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds
Laterally the stapes carries a short, broad process that probably made contact with a dorsally placed tympanic membrane.
A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas|Theodore H. Eaton
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
The bone that we take to be the stapes is blunt, flattened (perhaps by crushing), 5.0 mm.
A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas|Theodore H. Eaton

The stapes apparently reaches the quadrate, and could therefore serve in hyostylic suspension of the upper jaw.
A New Order of Fishlike Amphibia From the Pennsylvanian of Kansas|Theodore H. Eaton

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 Formsstapedial (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

Word Origin and History for stapes

stapes

"stirrup bone in the middle ear," 1660s, from Modern Latin (1560s), special use of Medieval Latin stapes "stirrup," probably an alteration of Late Latin stapia, related to stare "to stand" + pedem, accusative of pes "foot" (see foot). So called because the bone is shaped like a stirrup. This was an invented Medieval Latin word for "stirrup," for which there was no classical Latin word, as the ancients did not use stirrups.

Medicine definitions for stapes

stapes

[ stā′pēz ]

n. pl. stapes

The smallest of the three auditory ossicles, whose base fits into the oval window and whose head is articulated with the lenticular process of the long limb of the incus.stirrup

Science 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.