What does "stapes" mean?

A small stirrup-shaped innermost ossicle of the middle ear of mammals, transmitting vibrations from the incus to the inner ear.

Stapes

Common synonyms include: stirrup, stirrup, anvil, auditory apparatus, auditory canal, auditory meatus.

//ˈsteɪ.piːz// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A small stirrup-shaped innermost ossicle of the middle ear of mammals, transmitting vibrations from the incus to the inner ear.
"The tympanic cavity is spanned by the three smallest bones in the body: the auditory ossicles[…] These bones, named for their shape, are the malleus (malʹe-us; "hammer"); the incus (ingʹkus; "anvil"); and the stapes (staʹpēz; "stirrup"). The "handle" of the malleus is secured to the eardrum, and the base of the stapes fits into the oval window."
2
plural of stape form-of, plural
3
the stirrup-shaped ossicle that transmits sound from the incus to the cochlea wordnet

"Stapes is the smallest bone in the human body."

From Medieval Latin stapēs (“stirrup”). Doublet of step.

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