Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Shaped like a sword, as the leaf of an iris.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In botany and zoology, sword-shaped; straight, sharp on both edges, and tapering to a point; xiphoid; ensate: as, an ensiform leaf or organ.
Wiktionary
- adj. shaped like a sword blade
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Having the form of a sword blade; sword-shaped.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. shaped like a sword blade
Etymologies
- Latin ēnsis, sword + -form.
Examples
“(Mauser), through the seventh left costal cartilage, 1 inch from the base of the ensiform cartilage; _exit_, below the twelfth rib 2 inches to the right of the lumbar spines.”
“Complete motor and sensory paralysis below ensiform cartilage, with well-marked hyperæsthetic zone around trunk.”
“Evidence of mediastinal hæmorrhage existed in the presence of subcutaneous discoloration of the abdominal wall, below the ensiform cartilage and extending slightly over the costal margin of the thorax.”
“Aperture of entry ragged, roughly circular, and 2 inches in diameter, with much-contused margins situated in the median line, nearly midway between the ensiform cartilage and umbilicus.”
“_Entry_ (Mauser), in the tenth right interspace 2 inches to the right of the dorsal spines; _exit_, through the gladiolus, immediately to the right of the median line, and just above the junction with the ensiform cartilage.”
“-- _Entry_ (Mauser), 1 inch below and to the left of the ensiform cartilage; _exit_, in the sixth right intercostal space, just behind the posterior axillary line.”
“Tracing it upwards, I found it to be constituted by a prolongation of the _ensiform cartilage of the sternum_, or extremity of the breast-bone.”
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 401, November 28, 1829
“Anceps: two-edged; similar to ensiform, q.v. Ancestral: primitive; inherited from an earlier form or ancestor.”
“Place the finger-tips about two inches below the ensiform cartilage and perform the shaking backward and upward.”
“Xiphoid Process (processus xiphoideus; ensiform or xiphoid appendix).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ensiform’.
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A Galimafrée of Plant Anatomy & Morphology Terms
A hodgepodge, jumble, jambalaya, *gallimaufry, circus and tent revival of plant anatomy and morphology words and phrases - its a big tent, and no tickets are required.
*array, collecti...naked bud, leaf blade, brochidodromous, serrate, cork cambium, rhizomatous, flower stalk, deciduous sepal, petal, whorl, nectar gland, stamen and 1093 more...
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Adjectival Arcana
A roster of adjectives that infrequently surface in typical conversation and writing. Many are dredged from scientific or other technical jargon or sieved from examples of disused archaic forms.
unitegmic, acaulescent, reticuloendothelial, ingressive, uniate, acanthopterygian, ossific, epiphysial, perivisceral, acœlomatous, cestoid, acælomate and 7762 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
vanishedone Gladius/ensiform will go nicely with cattus/feline. Oct 21, 2007
sionnach What's this "ensis" nonsense? Everyone knows the Latin for sword is "gladius", and that the more natural Latin-derived word must therefore be gladiate.
Just sayin' .. Oct 21, 2007
sonofgroucho Total chaos, as usual! Isn't English wonderful? Oct 21, 2007
vanishedone Some of the entries at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ensiform actually give xiphoid as a definition; for some reason our language has ended up with a Latin- and a Greek-derived word for the same thing. Oct 21, 2007
sonofgroucho What, like xiphoid? Oct 21, 2007
vanishedone Sword-shaped. Oct 21, 2007