metatarsus

[ met-uh-tahr-suhs ]

noun

, Anatomy, Zoology.

, plural met·a·tar·si [met-, uh, -, tahr, -sahy].

1. the part of a foot or hind limb, especially its bony structure, included between the tarsus and the toes or phalanges.

metatarsus

/ ˌmɛtəˈtɑːsəs /

noun

1. the skeleton of the human foot between the toes and the tarsus, consisting of five long bones
2. the corresponding skeletal part in other vertebrates

Word History and Origins

Origin of metatarsus¹

From New Latin, dating back to 1670–80; meta-, tarsus

Example Sentences

“Furthermore, each leg of mine has seven sections—the coxa, the trochanter, the femur, the patella, the tibia, the metatarsus, and the tarsus.”

From Literature

“Coxa, trochanter, femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus, and tarsus.”

From Literature

"The new specimen preserves teeth, elements from all regions of the postcranial axial skeleton, parts of both appendicular girdles, and portions of both limbs including a complete metatarsus," the study's abstract reads.

From Fox News

The 1848 classic The Dodo and its Kindred, by zoologists Hugh Strickland and Alexander Melville, contains a stunning plate of the skull of the Oxford dodo above a reconstruction of what the bird might have looked like in life and another of its metatarsus and toes.

From The Guardian

A pre-Archaeopteryx troodontid theropod from China with long feathers on the metatarsus.

From Scientific American