oxea

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὀξέᾱ (oxéā). Either from the Ionic form of Attic ὀξεῖᾰ (oxeîa), (a feminine form of ὀξῠ́ς (oxús, “sharp”) applied to ῥᾰ́βδος (rhábdos, “wand; shaft”))[1] or a variant of ὀξῠ́ᾱ (oxúā), ὀξῠ́η (oxúē, “beech; spear-shaft”).[2]

Pronunciation

Noun

oxea (plural oxea or oxeas or oxeae)

  1. (zoology, of sponges (Porifera)) a monoaxial spicule which is pointed at both ends

Usage notes
  • The Oxford English Dictionary lists only the plural oxea[3], but other sources[4] list the plurals oxeae (by analogy to Latin feminine nouns such as alumna ~ alumnae) or oxeas (by generalization to standard English pluralization).

Antonyms

Derived terms
  • oxeate

References
  1. “oxea, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2014.
  2. ὀξέᾱ in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    ὀξῠ́ᾱ in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. “oxea, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2014.
  4. "oxea" in Glossary of geology by Jackson, Julia A., James P. Mehl, and Klaus KE Neuendorf, eds. Springer, 2005.

Spanish

Verb

oxea

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of oxear.
  2. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present indicative form of oxear.
  3. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of oxear.
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