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placenta

pla·centa

UK/pləˈsɛntə/ US/pʰl̥əˈsɛntʰə/ uncommon

noun

1.

that part of the ovary of a flowering plant where the ovules form

2.

the vascular structure in the uterus of most mammals providing oxygen and nutrients for and transferring wastes from the developing fetus

Origin

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

Phrases

  • placenta cake
  • placenta praevia

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.