English

Noun

oxea ‎(plural oxea or oxeas or oxeae)

1. (zoology, of sponges (Porifera)) a monoaxial spicule which is pointed at both ends

Usage notes

• The Oxford English Dictionary lists only the plural oxea^[3], but other sources^[4] list the plurals oxeae (by analogy to Latin feminine nouns such as alumna ~ alumnae) or oxeas (by generalization to standard English pluralization).

Antonyms

• (pointed spicule): strongyle

Derived terms

• oxeate

References

1. ↑ “oxea, n.”, in OED Online, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2014.
2. ↑ ὀξέᾱ in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
   ὀξῠ́ᾱ in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ↑ “oxea, n.”, in OED Online, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2014.
4. ↑ "oxea" in Glossary of geology by Jackson, Julia A., James P. Mehl, and Klaus KE Neuendorf, eds. Springer, 2005.