theca

American  

[thee-kuh] / ˈθi kə /

noun

• thecae
  plural

1. a case or receptacle.

2. Botany, Mycology.

   1. a sac, cell, or capsule.

   2. a sporangium.

3. Anatomy, Zoology. a case or sheath enclosing an organ, structure, etc., as the horny covering of an insect pupa or the loose membrane covering the spinal cord.

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theca British  

/ ˈθiːkə /

noun

1. botany an enclosing organ, cell, or spore case, esp the capsule of a moss

2. zoology a hard outer covering, such as the cup-shaped container of a coral polyp

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theca Scientific  

/ thē′kə /

• thecae
  plural

1. A case, covering, or sheath, such as the pollen sac of an anther, the spore case of a moss, or the outer covering of the pupa of certain insects.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• thecal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• thecae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of theca

1655–65; < Latin thēca, from Greek thḗkē “case, cover,” akin to tithénai “to place, put”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

theca thecae

The surge of LH also stimulates a change in the granulosa and theca cells that remain in the follicle after the oocyte has been ovulated.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

It occurs when the granulosa and theca cells of the tertiary follicles begin to produce increased amounts of estrogen.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

FSH stimulates the growth of a tertiary follicle, and LH stimulates the production of estrogen by granulosa and theca cells.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

These gonadotropins leave the pituitary and travel through the bloodstream to the ovaries, where they bind to receptors on the granulosa and theca cells of the follicles.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

A chronic inflammatory involvement of a theca through which an important tendon plays may cause adhesions to form.

From Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 by John Victor Lacroix

In the genus Dendrograptus the gonothecae open within the walls of the ordinary thecae, and the branches present an outward resemblance to those of the uniserial Graptoloidea.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

The average horse that has been subjected to hard service on pavements or hard roads at fast work suffers synovial distension of bursae, thecae or of joint capsules.

From Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 by John Victor Lacroix

In a general way, inflammation and other affections of bursae and thecae are considered very similar to like affections of joints.

From Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 by John Victor Lacroix

Etiology and Occurrence.—The thecae and bursae of the leg are several in number.

From Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 by John Victor Lacroix

There is a tendency for the branches to become reduced in number, and for the serial thecae to become directed more and more upwards towards the line of the nema.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various