Patella

//pəˈtɛlə// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The sesamoid bone of the knee; the kneecap.

    "Subluxed patellas, more commonly referred to as slipped stifles, like all inherited factors will continue to cripple a breed as long as breeders continue to mate affected animals."

  2. 2
    Alternative form of putelee (“type of boat”). alt-of, alternative
  3. 3
    a small flat triangular bone in front of the knee that protects the knee joint wordnet
  4. 4
    A little dish or vase.
  5. 5
    An orbicular sessile apothecium, with a marginal rim distinct from the thallus.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from Italian.

Synonyms

All synonyms
kneecapkneepanbonegenus patellakneecappot

Example

More examples

"The flat, dish-shaped bone in front of the knee joint is called the patella."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Latin patella (“a small pan or dish, a plate; the kneepan, patella”), diminutive of patina (“a broad shallow dish, pan”). Doublet of paella.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian Patella.

Related phrases

nail-patella syndromepatella femoral pain syndromepatellar reflexsesamoid bone

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