| lunate fissure | A small, inconstant semilunar groove on the cortical convexity near the occipital pole, marking the anterior border of the striate cortex (area 17) and considered homologous with the major sulcus of the same name that is a more constant feature of the cerebral cortex in monkeys and apes. Synonym: sulcus lunatus cerebri, ape fissure, lunate fissure, lunate sulcus, simian fissure. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| lunate sulcus | A small, inconstant semilunar groove on the cortical convexity near the occipital pole, marking the anterior border of the striate cortex (area 17) and considered homologous with the major sulcus of the same name that is a more constant feature of the cerebral cortex in monkeys and apes. Synonym: sulcus lunatus cerebri, ape fissure, lunate fissure, lunate sulcus, simian fissure. (05 Mar 2000) |
| lunate surface of acetabulum | The curved articular surface that surrounds the acetabular fossa and articulates with the head of the femur. Synonym: facies lunata acetabuli. (05 Mar 2000) |
| lunated | Crescent-shaped; as, a lunate leaf; a lunate beak; a lunated cross. Origin: L. Lunatus crescent-shaped, p. P. Of lunare to bend like a crescent, fr. Luna the moon. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lunatic | An obsolete term for a mentally ill person. Origin: see lunacy (05 Mar 2000) |
| lunatomalacia | Osteolysis of the lunate bone following trauma to the wrist. Synonym: lunatomalacia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| lune | 1. Anything in the shape of a half moon. 2. <geometry> A figure in the form of a crescent, bounded by two intersecting arcs of circles. 3. A fit of lunacy or madness; a period of frenzy; a crazy or unreasonable freak. "These dangerous, unsafe lunes i' the king." (Shak) Origin: L. Luna moon: cf. F. Lune. See Luna. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lunette | 1. A fieldwork consisting of two faces, forming a salient angle, and two parallel flanks. See Bastion. 2. <veterinary> A half horseshoe, which wants the sponge. 3. A kind of watch crystal which is more than ordinarily flattened in the center; also, a species of convexoconcave lens for spectacles. 4. A piece of felt to cover the eye of a vicious horse. 5. Any surface of semicircular or segmental form; especially, the piece of wall between the curves of a vault and its springing line. 6. An iron shoe at the end of the stock of a gun carriage. Lunette window, a window which fills or partly fills a lunette. Origin: F, dim. Of lune moon, L.luna. See Lune a crescent. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lung | <anatomy> An organ for aerial respiration; commonly in the plural. "My lungs began to crow like chanticleer." (Shak) In all air-breathing vertebrates the lungs are developed from the ventral wall of the oesophagus as a pouch which divides into two sacs. In amphibians and many reptiles the lungs retain very nearly this primitive saclike character, but in the higher forms the connection with the oesophagus becomes elongated into the windpipe and the inner walls of the sacs become more and more divided, until, in the mammals, the air spaces become minutely divided into tubes ending in small air cells, in the walls of which the blood circulates in a fine network of capillaries. In mammals the lungs are more or less divided into lobes, and each lung occupies a separate cavity in the thorax. See Respiration. <medicine> Lung fever, pneumonia. <botany> Lung flower, one of the breathing organs of spiders and snails. Origin: OE. Lunge, AS. Lunge, pl. Lungen; akin to D. Long, G. Lunge, Icel. & Sw. Lunga, Dan. Lunge, all prob. From the root of E. Light. See Light not heavy. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| lung abscess | A collection of pus within a cavity in the lung due to a bacterial infection (bacterial endocarditis). Certain bacteria (Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Tuberculosis, Klebsiella) are more likely to cavitate the lung and cause abscess formation. (27 Sep 1997) |
| lung bud | The endodermal lung primordium which will give rise to the epithelial lining of the respiratory tract. Synonym: lung bud. (05 Mar 2000) |
| lung cancer | A cancerous growth in lung tissue. Lung cancer may be metastatic from another source (colon) or may be primary (tumour is of lung cell origin). Classification is based on the type of cell the lung cancer originates from (adenocarcinoma, alveolar cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, large cell and small cell carcinomas). (27 Sep 1997) |
| lung compliance | The pulmonary volume change per unit pressure change. While clearly not a complete description of the pressure-volume properties of the lung, it is nevertheless useful in practice as a measure of the comparative stiffness of the lung. The stiffer the lung, the less the compliance. Compliance is reduced by diseases which cause an accumulation of fibrous tissue in the lung or by oedema in the alveolar spaces. It is increased in pulmonary emphysema and also with age, probably because of alterations in the elastic tissue in both cases. (12 Dec 1998) |
| lung diseases, interstitial | A heterogeneous group of noninfectious, nonmalignant disorders of the lower respiratory tract, affecting primarily the alveolar wall structures but also often involving the small airways and blood vessels of the lung parenchyma. "interstitial" refers to the fact that the interstitium of the alveolar walls is thickened, usually by fibrosis. This group of diseases is usually inflammatory. (12 Dec 1998) |
| lung diseases, obstructive | Any disorder marked by persistent obstruction of bronchial air flow. (12 Dec 1998) |