‖ epiphysis Anat.
(ɛˈpɪfɪsɪs)
Pl. epiphyses. Also 7 epiphise, -yse.
[a. Gr. ἐπίϕυσις, f. ἐπί upon + ϕύσις growth. Cf. F. épiphyse; also used in English in 17th and 18th c.]
1. An extremity or other portion of a long bone which has originated in a centre of ossification distinct from the rest. Opposed to apophysis.
| 1634 T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. vi. xxvi. (1678) 147 The wand hath two Epiphyses, or Appendices, the one at the upper end, the other at the lower. 1688 Moulen in Phil. Trans. XVII. 714 The Cartilage had generally an Epiphise or two. 1741 Monro Anat. (ed. 3) 39 An Epiphyse might be mistaken for a Fracture. 1854 Owen in Circ. Sc. (c 1865) II. 47/1 These separately ossified ends being termed ‘epiphyses’. 1872 Mivart Elem. Anat. ii. 23. |
2. abstr. The process of developing such a growth.
| 1862 Sir H. Holland Ess., Hum. Longevity 108 This period of Epiphysis or completion of bony union. |
3. The pineal body of the brain. In full epiphysis cerebri.
| 1882 A. Thomson in Quain's Elem. Anat. (ed. 9) II. 831 (heading) Pineal gland. Epiphysis cerebri... This body is formed by an out-folding from the back part of the inter-brain roof, at a place where the opposite sides remain united by nervous matter afterwards giving rise to the pineal peduncles. 1887 A. C. Haddon Introd. Study Embryol. 199 Vertebral epiphyses are peculiar to Mammals. 1889 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VIII. 175/1 The epiphysis (pineal gland) is not regarded as an important neural ingredient of the brain. 1951 O. Larsell Anat. Nerv. Syst. (ed. 2) xiv. 349 The pineal body or epiphysis..is considered by many students of the brain as a vestigial organ, related to the parietal eye of lower vertebrates. |
4. In sea-urchins, a calcareous piece attached to each half of an alveolus.
| 1906 Cambr. Nat. Hist. I. 526 [Echinus] Each tooth is firmly fixed by a pair of ossicles.—Their upper ends are connected by a pair of ossicles called ‘epiphyses’. These two epiphyses meet in an arch above. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. I. 592/2 The divergent ends of the limbs of each jaw are bridged by ossicles called epiphyses. |