Ourethra

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The tube through which urine is expelled from the bladder to the outside of the body; in males, it also serves as the passageway for semen during ejaculation; a component of the urinary and reproductive systems
2. A canal that carries urine from the urinary bladder to the body's exterior; in males, it additionally conveys reproductive fluids; part of the excretory and genital anatomy
3. A passage connecting the bladder to the external opening for urination; in male anatomy, it functions in both urinary discharge and sperm transport; integral to the body's elimination and reproductive structures

Etymology: The spelling in your request is "urethra," and the "ou" you typed is actually the original Greek form. Greek writers used "ourethra" for the urinary passage, built from "ouron," meaning urine, and a root connected to the verb for passing it. Latin and then English kept the sense but simplified the spelling to "u," the same change that turned "ouron" into the English "urine." Medical writers in Europe borrowed the term into Latin, and English adopted it as a technical anatomical word during the early modern period, when scholars were naming body parts from classical sources. The term stayed in the specialist vocabulary of anatomy, so it has changed little in meaning since then. Its other common Greek-derived relative is "urology," the study of the urinary system.

Synonyms: urethra, urinary canal