Ossicle

//ˈɒsɪkəl// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small bone (or bony structure), especially one of the three of the middle ear.

    "The incus is one of the three auditory ossicles."

  2. 2
    a small bone; especially one in the middle ear wordnet
  3. 3
    Bone-like joint or plate, especially

    "The skeleton of echinoderms is made of ossicles, linked to each other via muscles and connective tissue."

  4. 4
    Bone-like joint or plate, especially:; one of numerous small calcareous structures forming the skeleton of certain echinoderms, as the starfishes;
  5. 5
    Bone-like joint or plate, especially:; one of the hard articuli or joints of the stem or branches of a crinoid or encrinite;
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  1. 6
    Bone-like joint or plate, especially:; one of the several small hard chitinous parts or processes of the gastric skeleton of crustaceans, as in the stomach of a lobster or crawfish.

Synonyms

All synonyms
boneletossiculumauditory boneauditory boneauditory ossicleauditory ossicle

Example

More examples

"The incus is one of the three auditory ossicles."

Etymology

Late 16th century, from Latin ossiculum (“little bone, ossicle”) from os (“bone”).

Related phrases

Andernach's ossiclesKerckring's ossicleRiolan's ossiclesWeberian ossiclesambulacral ossiclecardiac ossiclecarpal ossicleepactal ossiclesepisternal ossiclesintercalcar ossiclesmarginal ossiclesossicle of Bertin

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.