Meaning & use
fossae
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“fossae” is a form of “fossa”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounpluralmedicalbiology
Shallow hollows or pits in a bone or other body structure, often where a muscle, nerve or another part sits.
Grammar: Plural of fossa; the singular is fossa: one fossa, two fossae.
Patterns
- fossae of something
- fossae in something
The surgeon pointed out the two shallow fossae on the skull where the brain rests.
Small fossae in the shoulder blade give the muscles a place to attach.
Students had to label each of the fossae on the diagram of the pelvis.
nounpluralspecialist
Long, narrow trenches or grooves on the surface of a planet or moon, named by astronomers using this Latin term.
Grammar: Appears mostly in feature names and scientific writing, often with a capital letter in a name.
Patterns
- fossae on something
Images from the probe revealed several fossae cutting across the volcanic plain.
Geologists believe the fossae formed when the crust stretched and cracked.
The Martian fossae can run for hundreds of kilometers.
Word forms
| singular | fossa |
|---|
Common combinations
- cranial fossae
- The three cranial fossae form the floor of the skull.
- shallow fossae
- Shallow fossae mark the spots where the tendons attach.
- paired fossae
- The bone has paired fossae, one on each side.
- Martian fossae
- The Martian fossae look like scars in the satellite photos.
- map the fossae
- The team used radar to map the fossae on the moon's surface.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hollows
- Hollows is an everyday word for any dip, whereas fossae is a precise technical term for named depressions in bone or planetary terrain.
- depressions
- Depressions is broader and can describe land, mood or economy, while fossae only names particular anatomical or planetary pits.
- trenches
- Trenches suggests a long cut dug or formed in the ground, which fits the planetary meaning but not the small bone hollows.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: fossae or fossils? fossae or fosses?
fossae vs fossils
Fossils are preserved remains of ancient plants or animals; fossae are hollows or trenches, and the words only look similar.
fossae vs fosses
Fosses is a different, older word for ditches or moats and is not the plural used in anatomy.
Practice
The anatomy lecturer circled the two shallow ___ on the skull diagram.
Choose one answer.
Fossae is the plural of fossa, meaning hollows in bone. Fossils are ancient remains, and fossa is singular so it cannot follow 'two'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fossae”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.