desma Biol.
(ˈdɛsmə)
Pl. desmata, desmas.
[a. Gr. δέσµα (pl. -ατα) bond, fetter, head-band, f. δέ-ειν to bind.]
1. A bandage; a ligament.
| 1857 in Dunglison. 1883 in Syd. Soc. Lex. |
2. A kind of spicule which unites with others to form the skeletal network in a particular group of sponges.
| 1887 Sollas in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 418/2 (Sponges) In the Lithistid sponges a skeleton is produced by the articulation of desmas into a network. |