Malleus
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈmæl.i.əs/
- Rhymes: -æliəs
Origin
From Latin malleus ("hammer, mallet")
Full definition of malleus
Noun
malleus
(plural mallei)- (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 576The 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.
- (ichthyology) The tripus (ossicle in cypriniform fishes).
- (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
Hypernyms
- (bone of the middle ear) auditory ossicle, auditory bone, otic bone, ossicle