penniform, a. Nat. Hist.
(ˈpɛnɪfɔːm)
[ad. mod.L. penniform-is, f. L. penna feather: see -form.]
Having the form or appearance of a feather; having a central axis with diverging lines or fibres on each side, like the barbs of a feather; spec. applied to a muscle whose fibres are obliquely arranged on each side of a central tendon.
| 1713 Cheselden Anat. ii. i. (1726) 73 The fibres of the penniform muscles. 1808 Barclay Muscular Motions 414 The carneous fibres by their lateral attachments shorten the tendons of penniform muscles. 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 594 Penniform or plume-shape. 1881 Mivart Cat 128 Sometimes the fasciculi radiate from a central band of dense fibrous tissue in a penniform or semi-penniform manner. |
Hence ˌpenniformi-ˈradiated a., radiated like the barbs of a feather; ˈpenniformˌwise adv., in a penniform manner.
| 1793 Young in Phil. Trans. LXXXIII. 173 Three penniformi-radiated muscles. 1839–47 Todd Cycl. Anat. III. 287 The fibres converge penniformwise to a strong..tendon. |