placenta
pronunciation
How to pronounce placenta in British English:
UK [pləˈsentə]
How to pronounce placenta in American English:
US [pləˈsɛntə]
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- Noun:
- that part of the ovary of a flowering plant where the ovules form
- the vascular structure in the uterus of most mammals providing oxygen and nutrients for and transferring wastes from the developing fetus
Word Origin
- placenta
- placenta: [17] Latin placenta originally meant ‘flat cake’. It was borrowed from Greek plakóenta, the accusative form of plakóeis ‘flat cake’, which was derived from pláx ‘flat surface’ (possible relative of English plank). Its application to the afterbirth (originally in the phrase placenta uterīna ‘uterine cake’) is a postclassical development, inspired by the flat round shape of the afterbirth.
- placenta (n.)
- 1670s of plants, 1690s of mammals, from Modern Latin placenta uterina "uterine cake" (so called 16c. by Italian anatomist Realdo Colombo), from Latin placenta "a cake, flat cake," from Greek plakoenta, accusative of plakoeis "flat," related to plax (genitive plakos) "level surface, anything flat," from PIE *plak- (1) "to be flat" (cognates: Greek plakoeis "flat," Lettish plakt "to become flat," Old Norse flaga "layer of earth," Norwegian flag "open sea," Old English floh "piece of stone, fragment," Old High German fluoh "cliff"), extended form of root *pele- (2) "flat, to spread" (see plane (n.1)). So called from the shape.
Example
- 1. Don 't try to pull the placenta out .
- 2. Pbdes can also cross the placenta , as they have been detected in fetal blood and liver .
- 3. Another recommendation to help expel the placenta has been to use what is called controlled-cord traction .
- 4. During subsequent pregnancies the mother 's placenta may deliver the antibodies to the fetus , possibly affecting its development .
- 5. Additional potential benefits of a placenta pill included the ability to improve breast milk supply , increase energy and even prevent aging .