rachis
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
rachis /ˈreɪkɪs/ (also rhachis)
▶noun (pl. rachides /-kɪdiːz/)
- 1 Botany a stem of a grass or other plant bearing flower stalks at short intervals.
■ the midrib of a compound leaf or frond.
- 2 Anatomy the vertebral column, or the cord from which it develops.
- 3 Ornithology the shaft of a feather.
– origin C18: mod. L., from Gk rhakhis ‘spine’; the Engl. pl. -ides is by false analogy.
'rachis' also found in these Oxford entries:
