axilla

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   anatomy: the armpit, especially the space beneath the shoulder joint through which major nerves and blood vessels pass

   The clinician checked the lymph nodes in the patient's axilla.

2. 2
   noun

   entomology: a region of an insect's thorax near the base of the wing

   The specimen had a dark patch across the axilla behind the wing joint.

Borrowed from Latin axilla, 'armpit or side.' It is related to axil, the angle between a plant stem and a branch or leaf, and remains the formal anatomical term for the underarm region.

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