Acinus
//ˈæsɪnəs// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 One of the small grains or drupelets which make up some kinds of fruit, as the blackberry, raspberry, etc.
- 2 one of the small sacs or saclike dilations in a compound gland wordnet
- 3 A grape-stone.
- 4 one of the small drupes making up an aggregate or multiple fruit like a blackberry wordnet
- 5 One of the granular masses which constitute a racemose or compound gland, as the pancreas; also, one of the saccular recesses in the lobules of a racemose gland.
"Their smallest lobules were called acini, a term which has also been used to denote the saccular recesses in the lobules […]"
Example
More examples"Their smallest lobules were called acini, a term which has also been used to denote the saccular recesses in the lobules […]"
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin acinus (“grape, grape-stone”); the histopathologic sense comes figuratively from the fancied resemblance (on microscopy) of acinic cells (acinar cells) to bunches of drupelets, berries, or grapes.
Related phrases
More for "acinus"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.