vertebra
English
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Etymology
Borrowing from Latin vertebra (“a joint”), from vertō (“to turn”) + -bra (instrumental nominal suffix). Having multiple vertebrae (plural of vertebra) in one's backbone instead of having a single bone or solid spine, allows for the movement of the body with bends and turns. Hence meaning 1.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈvɜː.tɪb.ɹə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈvɝ.təb.ɹə/, /ˈvɝ.təˌbɹeɪ/
Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tɪbɹə
Noun
vertebra (plural vertebrae or (obsolete) vertebræ or vertebras)
- (anatomy) Any of the bony or cartilaginous segments which make up the backbone, consisting in some lower vertebrates of several distinct elements which never become united, and in higher vertebrates having a short more or less cylindrical body whose ends articulate by pads of elastic or cartilaginous tissue with those of adjacent vertebrae and a bony arch that encloses the spinal cord.
- Synonym: (rare) spondyle
- Meronyms: see Thesaurus:vertebra
- Hyponym: anticlinal vertebra
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:
- Already I seemed to hear the water rippling against the desiccated bones and rattling them together, rolling my skull against Mahomed's, and his against mine, till at last Mahomed's stood straight up upon its vertebræ, and glared at me through its empty eyeholes, and cursed me with its grinning jaws, because I, a dog of a Christian, disturbed the last sleep of a true believer.
Derived terms
- hemivertebra
- prevertebra
- protovertebra
- vertebral
- vertebraless
- vertebrate
- vertebro-, vertebr-
Related terms
- vertebrally
Translations
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See also
- coccyx
References
- “vertebra”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “vertebra”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Esperanto
Adjective
vertebra (accusative singular vertebran, plural vertebraj, accusative plural vertebrajn)
- vertebrate
Antonyms
- malvertebra (“invertebrate”)
Hypernyms
- ĥordohava, ĥordula (“chordate”)
Related terms
- vertebro (“a vertebrate”)
Interlingua
Noun
vertebra (plural vertebras)
- vertebra
Italian
Etymology
From Latin vertebra.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvɛr.te.bra/
- Rhymes: -ɛrtebra
- Hyphenation: vèr‧te‧bra
Noun
vertebra f (plural vertebre)
- (anatomy) vertebra
Related terms
- vertebra cervicale
- vertebrale
- vertebra lombare
- vertebrato
- vertebra toracica
Further reading
- vertebra in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Anagrams
- tra breve
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈu̯er.te.bra/, [ˈu̯ɛrt̪ɛbrä]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈver.te.bra/, [ˈvɛrt̪ebrä]
Etymology 1
From vertō (“to turn”) + -bra (instrumental nominal suffix). Doublet of vertebrum.
Noun
vertebra f (genitive vertebrae); first declension
- a joint
- (anatomy) a joint, vertebra of the spine
Inflection
First-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | vertebra | vertebrae |
Genitive | vertebrae | vertebrārum |
Dative | vertebrae | vertebrīs |
Accusative | vertebram | vertebrās |
Ablative | vertebrā | vertebrīs |
Vocative | vertebra | vertebrae |
Derived terms
- vertebrālis (adjective)
- vertebrātus (adjective)
Descendants
- → English: vertebra
- → French: vertèbre
- → Galician: vértebra
- Irish: veirteabra
- → Italian: vertebra
- → Portuguese: vértebra
- → Spanish: vértebra
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun
vertebra n
- nominative/accusative/vocative plural of vertebrum
References
- “vertebra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- vertebra in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
Manx
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vertebra.
Noun
vertebra f (genitive singular vertebra, plural vertebraghyn)
- (anatomy) vertebra
Synonyms
- junt craue-drommey
Derived terms
- vertebragh (“vertebrate, vertebral”)
Spanish
Verb
vertebra
- inflection of vertebrar:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative