‖ infundibulum
(ɪnfʌnˈdɪbjʊləm)
[L., = funnel, f. infundĕre to pour in, infund + -bulum, suffix forming names of instruments.]
† 1. A funnel. Obs. rare—0.
| 1706 Phillips, Infundibulum (Lat.), a Tunnel, or Funnel, for the pouring off Liquors into Vessels. |
2. Anat. Applied to various funnel-shaped cavities or structures of the body.
infundibulum of the brain (i. cerebri), a funnel-shaped prolongation downwards and forwards of the third ventricle of the brain, at the extremity of which is the pituitary body. i. of the cochlea, the thin plate of bone, shaped like half a funnel, under the cupola of the cochlea of the ear. i. of the ethmoid bone, the sinuous canal connecting the frontal sinus with the middle meatus of the nose. i. of the Fallopian tube, the fimbriated end of this. i. of the heart, the conus arteriosus or conical upper part of the right ventricle. infundibula of the kidney, the two or three main divisions of the pelvis of the kidney, formed by the confluence of the calyces. i. of the lungs, the funnel-shaped sacs in which the air-passages terminate.
| [1706 Phillips, Infundibulum Cerebri,..the Brain-Tunnel.] 1799 Hooper Med. Dict., Infundibulum of the Brain, a canal that proceeds from the vulva of the brain to the pituitary gland in the sella turcica. 1883 Martin & Moale Vertebr. Dissect. 153 The infundibulum, a prolongation of gray matter from the floor of the third ventricle. 1894 Field 9 June 850/3 There being no cavity or infundibulum in the incisors of the ox, there is no mark to be worn out. |
b. Zool. (a) ‘A tubular organ in the Cephalopoda through which the water is driven from the gills’. (b) ‘The gastric cavity of Ctenophora with which the œsophageal tube communicates’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.). (c) The dilated upper extremity of the oviduct of a bird.
| 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. iii. 172 On opposite sides of the infundibulum a canal is given off towards the middle of each half of the body. |