semilunar

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   shaped like a half-moon or crescent, especially of an anatomical structure

   In humans, the semilunar fold at the inner corner of the eye is a vestige of a third eyelid.

2. 2
   noun

   the lunate bone of the wrist, formerly called the semilunar bone

   The scan showed a small fracture through the semilunar.

From New Latin semilunaris, formed from Latin semi-, 'half,' + lunaris, 'lunar,' from luna, 'moon.' Anatomists applied the crescent-shape term to structures including the semilunar fold of the eye, valves, and the wrist bone now usually called the lunate.

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