malleus

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Pronunciation

• (British, America) IPA: /ˈmæl.i.əs/

Noun

malleus (plural mallei)

1. (anatomy) The small hammer-shaped bone of the middle ear.

   A fracture of the malleus handle is a rare traumatic middle ear lesion.

   • 2010, Elaine N. Marieb & Katja Hoehn, Human Anatomy & Physiology, 8th edition, page 576

     The tympanic cavity is spanned by the three smallest bones in the body: the auditory ossicles […] These bones, named for their shape, are the malleus (malʹe-us; "hammer"); the incus (ingʹkus; "anvil"); and the stapes (staʹpēz; "stirrup"). The "handle" of the malleus is secured to the eardrum, and the base of the stapes fits into the oval window.

2. (ichthyology) The tripus (ossicle in cypriniform fishes).
3. (zoology) One of the paired calcareous structures within the mastax of rotifers.
   • 1884, Hudson, C.T., Memoirs: An Attempt to re-classify the Rotifers in Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 1884 s2-24, pages 335-356 ↗:

     […] in the typical mastax of a Brachionus there are two hammer-like bodies (mallei), which work on a kind of split anvil (incus); [...] each malleus consists of an upper part or head (uncus) and a lower or handle (manubrium);

Synonyms

• (bone of the middle ear) hammer
• (tripus) malleus Weberi, tripus

Translations

• French: malléus, marteau
• German: Hammer, Malleus
• Portuguese: martelo
• Russian: молото́чек
• Spanish: malleus, martillo

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