placenta
Placenta is an organ that lines the uterine wall and feeds a fetus in the womb.
(noun)An example of placenta is what a mother cat consumes after giving birth to her kittens.
See placenta in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun pl. placentas or placentae
- Anat., Zool.
- a vascular organ, developed within the uterus of most mammals during gestation from the chorion of the embryo and a part of the maternal uterine wall, that is connected to the embryo by the umbilical cord and that is discharged shortly after birth: it serves as the structure through which nourishment for the fetus is received from, and wastes of the fetus are eliminated into, the circulatory system of the mother
- any similar structure in other animals
- Bot.
- that part of the lining of the ovary which bears the ovules
- any mass of tissue that bears sporangia or spores
Origin: ModL < L, lit., a cake < Gr plakounta, acc. of plakous, a flat cake < plax (gen. plakos), a flat object < IE base *plāk-, flat > L placere, to please
Related Forms:
- placental adjective
See placenta in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun pl. pla·cen·tas or pla·cen·tae (-tē)
- a. A membranous vascular organ that develops in female mammals during pregnancy, lining the uterine wall and partially enveloping the fetus, to which it is attached by the umbilical cord. Following birth, the placenta is expelled.b. An organ with similar functions in some nonmammalian animals, such as certain sharks and reptiles.
- Botany The part within the ovary of a flowering plant to which the ovules are attached.
Origin:
Origin: New Latin
Origin: , from Latin, flat cake
Origin: , alteration of Greek plakoenta
Origin: , from accusative of plakoeis, flat
Origin: , from plax, plak-, flat land, surface; see plāk-1 in Indo-European roots
.Related Forms:
- pla·cenˈtal adjective
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