Oxea

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈɒksɪə/
• US IPA: /ˈɑksi.É™/
• Homophones: oxia

Origin

From Ancient Greek ὀξέᾱ. Either from the form of ὀξεῖᾰ, (a feminine form of ὀξῠ́ς ("sharp") applied to ῥᾰ́βδος ("wand; shaft"))

OED Online|title=oxea|code=135562|part of speech=n|date=December 2014

or a variant of ὀξῠ́ᾱ, ὀξῠ́η ("beech; spear-shaft").

LSJ|o)ce/a|ὀξέᾱ

LSJ|o)cu/a|ὀξῠ́ᾱ

Full definition of oxea

Noun

1. (zoology, of sponges (Porifera)) a monoaxial spicule which is pointed at both ends

Usage notes

The Oxford English Dictionary lists only the plural oxea

OED Online|title=oxea|code=135562|part of speech=n|date=December 2014

, but other sources

"oxea" in Glossary of geology by Jackson, Julia A., James P. Mehl, and Klaus KE Neuendorf, eds. Springer, 2005. list the plurals oxeae (by analogy to Latin feminine nouns such as alumna ~ alumnae) or oxeas (by generalization to standard English pluralization).

Antonyms

• (pointed spicule) strongyle

Derived terms

• oxeate