vertebra

[ vur-tuh-bruh ]

noun

, Anatomy, Zoology.

, plural ver·te·brae [vur, -t, uh, -bree, -brey], ver·te·bras.

1. any of the bones or segments composing the spinal column, consisting typically of a cylindrical body and an arch with various processes, and forming a foramen, or opening, through which the spinal cord passes.

vertebra

/ ˈvɜːtɪbrə /

noun

1. one of the bony segments of the spinal column

vertebra

/ vûr′tə-brə /

, Plural vertebrae vûr′tə-brā′,-brē′

1. Any of the bones that make up the vertebral column. Each vertebra contains an arched, hollow section through which the spinal cord passes. In humans, the vertebrae are divided into cervical, thoracic, and lumbar sections, and the sacrum and coccyx are both made up of a series of fused vertebrae. The vertebrae are separated by cartilaginous intervertebral disks.
2. See more at skeleton

Derived Forms

• ˈvertebrally, adverb
• ˈvertebral, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of vertebra¹

1570–80; < Latin: (spinal) joint, equivalent to verte ( re ) to turn ( verse ) + -bra noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of vertebra¹

C17: from Latin: joint of the spine, from vertere to turn

Example Sentences

The bullet had burst her C5 vertebra, but, remarkably, the round had tumbled millimeters past her major arteries and narrowly missed severing her spine.

From Washington Post

It introduced readers to Tina Brooks, a former police officer who fractured a vertebra in her back and damaged three others in her neck when she plunged 15 feet down a steep quarry while training for bicycle patrol.

From ProPublica

It includes five percussion speeds and comes with five heads, including a fork head to get muscles close to the vertebrae.

From Popular-Science

Large bone fragments and teeth appear to be well-preserved, but smaller bones like vertebrae or thin rib bones likely didn’t survive as well.

From Science News

These vertebrae also preserve annual growth bands, like the rings of a tree, showing how the fish grew.

From Science News

I have no idea when the second vertebra went out during the battle.

From The Daily Beast

One vertebra had given way in Ganjigal when I picked up an Askar and slipped in the bloody mud under him.

From The Daily Beast

Such a contrivance would save his feet, check his perspiration, and console his dorsal vertebra.

From Project Gutenberg

But I also find the petrified vertebra of an antediluvian animal upon which the Trojans have carved a large owls head.

From Project Gutenberg

The ball passed through the liver and diaphragm, and lodged in the vertebra.

From Project Gutenberg

Pleurapoph′ysis, a lateral process of a vertebra, with the morphological character of a rib:—pl.

From Project Gutenberg

Probably not; and more especially if it is a lumbar artery, and injured in the foramen through which it passes from the vertebra.

From Project Gutenberg