English Explanatory Dictionary

placenta

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An organ in most mammals during gestation that supplies food and oxygen to the foetus and passes back waste. It is on the wall of the uterus and links to the foetus through the umbilical cord. It is expelled after birth.
  2. In flowering plants, the part of the ovary where ovules develop; in non-flowering plants where the spores develop.

Pronunciation

plə-sĕn'tə /pləˈsɛntə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-placenta.wav

Word forms

placenta placentae placentas

Etymology

Elision for phrases such as New Latin placenta uterī (“womb cake”), placenta uterīna (“uterine cake”), from Latin placenta (“flat cake”), because of the flat round shape of the afterbirth. Doublet of palacsinta and palatschinke.

Synonyms

afterbirth clean glean trophosperm

Derived words

placenta cake placental placenta praevia placentary placentation placentiferous placentiform placentitis placento- placentome pseudoplacenta subplacenta
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