Meaning & use
pennate
Last updated
Having a feather-like structure or arrangement, as of leaflets, muscle fibers, or diatom shells arranged along a central axis.
See it in a sentence
The fern's pennate fronds unfurled in a neat, feathery pattern.
A pennate muscle has fibers that attach diagonally to a central tendon, resembling the barbs of a feather.
A note on using this word
"Pennate" comes from Latin "penna," meaning "feather," and is closely related to the more common biological term "pinnate."
Words with a similar meaning
featheredpinnate
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