Epiploa

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fold of peritoneum that contains fat and supports the abdominal organs
2. A layer of peritoneal tissue that serves as a protective covering for the intestines and helps to hold them in place
3. A fatty structure in the abdominal cavity formed by peritoneal extensions that cushion and stabilize visceral organs

Etymology: "Epiploa" is the plural of "epiploon," a term for the fold of fatty membrane that hangs from the stomach and covers the intestines. The singular was taken straight from Ancient Greek, where "epíploon" meant something like "that which floats over" or "caul," built from "epi" ("upon, over") and "plóos" ("sailing, floating," from the verb "pleîn," to sail). The image is of fat draped over the bowels like a loose covering laid on top of them. Greek writers used the word for the fatty covering of the internal organs, and it passed into Latin and then into the technical vocabulary of anatomy. English medical writers adopted it in this sense, so the plural form "epiploa" follows the Greek neuter pattern, which keeps the "-a" ending rather than adding an English "-s."