Enterocoelom

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A body cavity formed within the embryonic mesoderm during development that is lined entirely by tissue derived from the mesoderm
2. A coelomic space arising embryonically through the splitting of the mesoderm layer, resulting in a cavity completely enclosed by mesodermal tissue
3. An internal cavity in some animals that develops by the outpocketing of mesodermal tissue in the embryo, creating a mesoderm-lined coelom

Etymology: Its two parts come from ancient Greek. "Enteron" meant intestine or inner part of the body, and "koilos" meant hollow. The compound itself is a modern scientific coinage, built from those classical roots to name one specific kind of body cavity. Greek and Roman writers never used it. The name describes how the cavity forms. In certain animals, including sea stars and other echinoderms and the chordate group that includes vertebrates, pouches bud outward from the wall of the primitive gut and then pinch off as sealed chambers. Because the cavity arises from the gut side, the prefix points to that origin, even though the lining it ends up with is mesoderm. Biologists contrast this with "schizocoelom," a cavity that forms by splitting open within existing mesoderm. Both terms are built from Greek elements, "schizein" meaning to split.

Synonyms: coelom, body cavity, mesocoel