‖ cæcum Phys.
(ˈsiːkəm)
Also occas. cecum; pl. cæca.
[L.; for intestinum cæcum; neut. of cæcus blind.]
1. The blind-gut; the first part of the large intestine, so called because it is prolonged behind the opening of the ilium into a cul-de-sac. It is present in man, most mammals and birds, and in many reptiles.
| 1721 in Bailey. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Intestine, The cæcum..has a lateral insertion into the upper end of the colon; and hangs to it like the finger of a glove. 1872 Huxley Phys. vi. 150 The large intestine forms a blind dilatation beyond the ilio-cæcal valve..called the cæcum. |
2. With pl. cæca: Any blind tube, or tube with one end closed. The intestinal cæca are two long blind tubes connected with the upper part of the large intestine in birds; pyloric cæca, a series of blind tubes, from one to fifty in number, placed immediately behind the pyloric valve in the stomach of most fishes; also the prolongations of the stomach into the rays of star-fishes.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Intestinum, The fish kind have in general a great number of these cæca; they are called by the ichthyologists Intestinula cæca. 1848 Carpenter Anim. Phys. 172 Furnished with one or more little appendages, termed cæca. 1857 Wood Com. Obj. Sea Shore 129 The stomach is assisted by certain supplementary stomachs which run through each ray..cæca as they are called. 1868 Duncan Insect World Introd. 10 The second are cæca, and larger and less numerous. |