Ossicle

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɒsɪkəl/

Definitions

1. A small skeletal structure in the ear that aids in the conduction of sound waves
2. A minute bone located within the middle ear that transmits sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear
3. One of the small bones embedded in the ear that plays a role in hearing by passing sound waves along

Etymology: The ear's three smallest bones were named by anatomists working from a simple diminutive: Latin "os" meant "bone," and adding the suffix "-iculum" produced "ossiculum," a "little bone." English borrowed the term in the late 16th century, and it has stayed attached to the hammer, anvil and stirrup ever since, though those names are themselves older descriptions of their shapes. The word is therefore a plain diminutive rather than a coinage with a backstory of its own. Its root, "os," is the same one that gives English "osseous" (bony) and "ossify" (to turn into bone), so anyone who knows those words already holds the key to this one. The "-cle" ending in English is the regular anglicised form of the Latin diminutive, the same pattern seen in "particle" and "vesicle."

Synonyms: bone, ossicle, ossicle bone, tiny bone, small bone