ossicle

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɒsɪkəl/

Noun

ossicle (plural ossicles)

1. (anatomy) A small bone (or bony structure), especially one of the three of the middle ear.

   The incus is one of the three auditory ossicles.

   • 1836, William Buckland, Geology and Mineralogy, Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, vol. 1, William Pickering, p. 174:

     The eyeballs were surrounded by a ring of bones, the sclerotic ossicle, which probably protected their eyes when diving abruptly for prey.

2. (zoology) Bone-like joint or plate, especially:
   1. one of numerous small calcareous structures forming the skeleton of certain echinoderms, as the starfishes;
   2. one of the hard articuli or joints of the stem or branches of a crinoid or encrinite;
   3. one of the several small hard chitinous parts or processes of the gastric skeleton of crustaceans, as in the stomach of a lobster or crawfish.
   4. The skeleton of echinoderms is made of ossicles, linked to each other via muscles and connective tissue.

Synonyms

• auditory bone
• auditory ossicle
• bonelet
• ossicular chain
• ossicule
• ossiculum
• otic bone

Related terms

See os.

Translations

• French: osselet
• German: Gehörknöchelchen
• Portuguese: ossículo
• Spanish: huesecillo

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