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

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

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

Supporting granulosa and theca cells in the growing follicles produce estrogens, until the level of estrogen in the bloodstream is high enough that it triggers negative feedback at the hypothalamus and pituitary.

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

But of what nature that morbid change is; and whether originating in the medulla itself, in its membranes, or in the containing theca, is, at present, the subject of doubt and conjecture.

From An Essay on the Shaking Palsy by Parkinson, James

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

However, in general practice a classification on an etiological basis is probably more practical and we shall consider inflammation of bursae and thecae as infectious and noninfectious.

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

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 Lacroix, John Victor

The noninfectious inflammation of bursae and thecae usually result from contusions or strains and generally run their course without becoming infective in character, where vitality and resistance of the subject are normal.

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

Finally, in the latest family, the Monograptidae, the branches are theoretically reduced to one, the polypary is uniserial throughout, and all the thecae are directed outwards and upwards.

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