sesamoid, a. and n.
(ˈsɛsəmɔɪd)
[ad. L. sēsamoīdēs, a. Gr. σησαµοειδής, f. σήσαµον sesamum: see -oid.]
A. adj. Shaped like a sesame-seed; applied in Anat. to certain small bones and cartilages formed in tendinous structures.
| 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Sesamoide, Sixteen, Nineteen, Twenty, and sometimes more little Bones..which are found in the Joynts of the Hands and Feet. 1718 Phil. Trans. XXX. 891 Sesamoide Bones in the Fingers and Toes. 1808 Barclay Muscular Motions 404 A sesamoid bone belonging to the tendon of the ulnaris internus. 1846 F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 247 Dissect the skin from the sole of the foot, leaving the sesamoid bones on the phalangeal articulation. 1854 Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 234 A sesamoid ossicle. |
B. n. A sesamoid bone or cartilage.
| 1854 Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 256 The wrist has nine bones,..besides supplementary sesamoids. 1886 W. N. Parker Wiedersheim's Anat. Vertebr. 113 Wherever a marked friction occurs, ossifications (sesamoids) may become developed in the course of a muscle or tendon. |
So sesaˈmoidal a. (in recent Dicts.); sesaˈmoideal a. [mod.L. sēsamoīdeus] = sesamoid a.
| 1869 Sir F. Fitzwygram Horses & Stables §678. 439 The superior Sesamoideal Ligament. |