trabecula

[ truh-bek-yuh-luh ]

/ trəˈbɛk yə lə /

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noun, plural tra·bec·u·lae

[truh-bek-yuh-lee]. /trəˈbɛk yəˌli/.

Anatomy, Botany. a structural part resembling a small beam or crossbar.

Botany. one of the projections from the cell wall that extends across the cavity of the ducts of certain plants, or the plate of cells across the cavity of the sporangium of a moss.

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Origin of trabecula

1815–25; <New Latin trabēcula,Latin: little beam, equivalent to trabē(s) beam + -cula-cule¹

OTHER WORDS FROM trabecula

tra·bec·u·lar, tra·bec·u·late

[truh-bek-yuh-lit, -leyt], /trəˈbɛk yə lɪt, -ˌleɪt/, adjectivein·ter·tra·bec·u·lar, adjective

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

How to use trabecula in a sentence

The blood-vessels enter at one spot, the hilum, and are distributed along the trabeculae.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 2|Various
Sperm sacs generally occupying a good many segments and with simple interior undivided by a network of trabeculae.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7|Various
Sperm sacs generally limited to one or two segments with interior subdivided by trabeculae.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7|Various
The bony trabeculae and the cortex are destroyed only secondarily.
Surgery, with Special Reference to Podiatry|Maximilian Stern

In the interior of the ventricle is a network of muscular trabeculae.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2|Various

British Dictionary definitions for trabecula

trabecula

/ (trəˈbɛkjʊlə) /

noun plural -lae (-ˌliː) anatomy botany

any of various rod-shaped structures that divide organs into separate chambers

any of various rod-shaped cells or structures that bridge a cavity, as within the capsule of a moss or across the lumen of a cell

Derived forms of trabecula

trabecular or trabeculate, adjective

Word Origin for trabecula

C19: via New Latin from Latin: a little beam, from trabs a beam

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