triæne Zool.
(traɪˈiːn, ˈtraɪiːn)
[ad. Gr. τρίαινα trident.]
A kind of sponge-spicule.
Variously described as ‘a rhabdus having at one end three prongs or {oqq}cladi{cqq} diverging at equal angles’, and ‘a tetraxon spicule with 1 long and 3 equal shorter tangential rays’.
| 1887 Sollas in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 417/1 (Sponges) A particular case of the cladose rhabdus,..of the most frequent occurrence, is the triæne. |
Hence triænostrongyle (traɪiːnəʊˈstrɒndʒɪl) [Gr. στρογγύλος rounded], a triæne in which the main arm is blunt at the end; triˈænostyle (-staɪl) [Gr. στῦλος pillar, style], one in which it is sharp; triˈænotyle (-taɪl) [Gr. τύλη cushion], one in which it is blunt and rounded.
| 1909 in Cent. Dict. Supp. |