lacuna

lacuna

1. Biology a cavity or depression, such as any of the spaces in the matrix of bone

2. another name for coffer

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Lacuna

 

(1) In animals and man, the interstices between elements of tissues and between organs lacking their own walls. In animals with a closed circulatory system, the lacunae are usually filled with lymph; in those with an open system, they are filled with hemolymph. Lacunae that attain relatively large dimensions are called sinuses. In the majority of animals that have a heart and an open circulatory system, the lacunae are usually found on the venous path.

(2) In man, depressed areas on the surfaces of organs (for example, the tonsillar cryptae); on the anterior surface of the hip, the lacuna vasorum is a compartment for the passage of the femoral artery and vein, and the lacuna musculorum is a compartment for the passage of the iliopsoas muscle and femoral nerve.

(3) In plants, the same as leaf gaps.

(4) In linguistics and literary studies, a blank space, an omission, or a missing part of a text.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

lacuna

[lə′kü·nə]

(biology)

A small space or depression.

(histology)

A cavity in the matrix of bone or cartilage which is occupied by the cell body.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.