Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Resembling a pea in size or shape.
  • noun A small bone at the junction of the ulna and the carpus.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the form of a pea, as an ossification in tendons at joints; having a structure resembling peas. A variety of iron ore is called pisiform, from its being made up of small rounded masses about the size of a pea.
  • noun In anatomy, a sesamoid bone, of about the size and shape of a pea, developed in the tendon of the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle of man and some other animals.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Resembling a pea or peas in size and shape.
  • noun (Anat.) A small bone on the ulnar side of the carpus in man and many mammals. See Illust. of artiodactyla.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Resembling a pea in size or shape
  • noun A small bone in the wrist at the junction of the ulna and the carpus

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small wrist bone that articulates only with the triquetral

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin pīsum, pea; see pea + –form.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin pisum ("pea") + -form

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pisiform.

Examples

  • The ulnar nerve, D E, lies on the ulnar border of the artery, and both are in general to be found ranging along the radial side of the tendon of the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle, T, and the pisiform bone, G.

    Surgical Anatomy Joseph Maclise

  • Whenever circumstances may call for placing a ligature on the ulnar artery, as it lies between the superficial and deep flexor muscles, in the region of I L M, Plate 16, the course of the vessel may be indicated by a line drawn from a central point of the forearm, an inch or so below the level of the inner condyle -- viz., the point F, and carried to the pisiform bone, T.

    Surgical Anatomy Joseph Maclise

  • The fibers end in a tendon, which occupies the anterior part of the lower half of the muscle and is inserted into the pisiform bone, and is prolonged from this to the hamate and fifth metacarpal bones by the pisohamate and pisometacarpal ligaments; it is also attached by a few fibers to the transverse carpal ligament.

    IV. Myology. 7e. The Muscles and Fasciæ of the Forearm 1918

  • The articular capsule is a thin membrane which connects the pisiform to the triangular; it is lined by synovial membrane.

    III. Syndesmology. 6g. Intercarpal Articulations 1918

  • The pisiform is about 1 cm. distal to the lower end of the ulna and just distal to the level of the styloid process of the radius; it is crossed by the uppermost crease which separates the front of the forearm from the palm of the hand.

    XII. Surface Anatomy and Surface Markings. 11. Surface Anatomy of the Upper Extremity 1918

  • This slip may be replaced by a muscular fasciculus arising from or near the pisiform.

    IV. Myology. 7e. The Muscles and Fasciæ of the Forearm 1918

  • There is a separate synovial membrane between the pisiform and triangular.

    III. Syndesmology. 6g. Intercarpal Articulations 1918

  • The ligaments connecting the pisiform bone are the articular capsule and the two volar ligaments.

    III. Syndesmology. 6g. Intercarpal Articulations 1918

  • The two volar ligaments are strong fibrous bands; one, the pisohamate ligament, connects the pisiform to the hamate, the other, the pisometacarpal ligament, joins the pisiform to the base of the fifth metacarpal bone (Fig. 334).

    III. Syndesmology. 6g. Intercarpal Articulations 1918

  • The fifth runs between the adjacent margins of the triangular and pisiform bones.

    III. Syndesmology. 6h. Carpometacarpal Articulations 1918

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Literally, "pea-shaped".

    August 1, 2008

  • Ooh.

    August 1, 2008

  • But aren't peas... round?

    August 1, 2008

  • No, yarb. They are pisiformiform.

    August 1, 2008

  • I must have been pisinformed, then.

    August 1, 2008

  • as opposed to pisciform, which is fish-like

    August 1, 2008

  • Or plinthiform, which is plinth-shaped.

    August 2, 2008

  • Or prolagiform, which is me-like.

    August 2, 2008

  • Me-like? I love it!

    August 2, 2008

  • I knew a guy in college named Grey (first name). He used to come to the coffee shop and order "An Earl Me tea please."

    August 2, 2008

  • I like that. I might be able to use it.

    August 2, 2008

  • Heehee!

    August 2, 2008

  • "The kidney! B remembered. Bloom starts down the stairs like a startled stag.

    The pisiform shape of that gland reminds me of something... said Professor Jones."

    The House of Ulysses by Julián Ríos, translated by Nick Caistor, p 68

    December 25, 2010