epiphysis

1. 1.

   the end of a long bone; initially separated from the main bone by a layer of cartilage that eventually ossifies so the parts become fused

   Broaderlong bone
2. 2.

   a small endocrine gland in the brain; situated beneath the back part of the corpus callosum; secretes melatonin

   Synonymspineal glandpineal bodyepiphysis cerebri

   Broaderendocrine gland

Other forms of epiphysis

plural

epiphyses

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about epiphysis

What does epiphysis mean?

epiphysis means "the end of a long bone; initially separated from the main bone by a layer of cartilage that eventually ossifies so the parts become fused". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in epiphysis?

epiphysis has 4 syllables: e-pi-phy-sis. The stress falls on "pi".

What is another word for epiphysis?

Close synonyms include pineal gland, pineal body, epiphysis cerebri. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is epiphysis a common word?

epiphysis is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.