spleen
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
spleen/spliːn/
▶noun
- 1 Anatomy an abdominal organ involved in the production and removal of blood cells and forming part of the immune system.
- 2 bad temper; spite.
– origin ME: shortening of OFr. esplen, via L. from Gk splēn; sense 2 derives from the former belief that the spleen was the seat of bad temper.
'spleen' also found in these Oxford entries:
amyloid
- Hodgkin's disease
- milt
- portal vein
- spleenwort
- splen-
- splenectomy
- splenetic
- splenic
- splenitis
- splenomegaly
