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Webster 1913 Edition


Tenaculum


Te-nac′u-lum

,
Noun.
;
pl. L.
Tenacula
(#)
; E.
Tenaculums
(#)
.
[L., a holder, fr.
tenere
to hold. Cf.
Tenaille
.]
(Surg.)
An instrument consisting of a fine, sharp hook attached to a handle, and used mainly for taking up arteries, and the like.

Definition 2024


tenaculum

tenaculum

English

Noun

tenaculum (plural tenacula)

  1. A medical instrument consisting of a sharp hook attached to a handle; used mainly for taking up arteries and the like.
    • 1909, Woods Hutchinson, Preventable Diseases:
      It was a recognized procedure in those days (and is resorted to still), when all medical, electrical, and other remedial measures had failed to relieve a furious neuralgia, for the surgeon to cut down upon the nerve-trunk, free it from its surrounding attachments, and, slipping his tenaculum or finger under it, stretch the nerve with a considerable degree of force.

Latin

Etymology

Late Latin. From teneō.

Noun

tenaculum

  1. (Late Latin) instrument for gripping

Descendants

  • English: tenaculum
  • French: tenaille
  • Italian: tenacolo
  • Portuguese: tenáculo, tenalha
  • Spanish: tenáculo

References