Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Meniscus
Me-nis′cus
,Noun.
pl. L.
Menisci
(-sī)
, E. Meniscuses
(#)
. [NL., from Gr.
μηνίσκος
, dim. of μήνη
the moon.] 1.
A crescent.
2.
(Opt.)
A lens convex on one side and concave on the other.
3.
(Anat.)
An interarticular synovial cartilage or membrane; esp., one of the intervertebral synovial disks in some parts of the vertebral column of birds.
Converging meniscus
, Diverging meniscus
See
Lens
.Webster 1828 Edition
Meniscus
MENIS'CUS
,Noun.
plu.
A lens convex on one side, and concave on the other.
Definition 2024
meniscus
meniscus
English
Noun
meniscus (plural meniscuses or menisci)
- A crescent moon, or an object shaped like it. [from 17th c.]
- 1972, Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things, McGraw-Hill 1972, p. 19:
- He opened wide both casements; they gave on a parking place four floors below; the thin meniscus overhead was too wan to illumine the roofs of the houses descending toward the invisible lake [...].
- 1972, Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things, McGraw-Hill 1972, p. 19:
- (optics) A lens which is convex on one side and concave on the other, being crescent-shaped in cross-section. [from 17th c.]
- The curved surface of liquids in tubes, whether concave or convex, caused by the surface tension of the liquid. [from 19th c.]
- (anatomy) Either of two parts of the human knee that provide structural integrity to the knee when it undergoes tension and torsion. [from 19th c.]
Translations
the curved surface of liquids
either of two parts of the human knee