lacteal

lacteal
lacteally, adv.
/lak"tee euhl/, adj.
1. pertaining to, consisting of, or resembling milk; milky.
2. Anat. conveying or containing chyle.
n.
3. Anat. any of the minute lymphatic vessels that convey chyle from the small intestine to the thoracic duct.
[1625-35; < L lacte(us) milky (see LACTEOUS) + -AL1]

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      one of the lymphatic vessels that serve the small intestine and, after a meal, become white from the minute fat globules that their lymph contains (see chyle). The lacteals were described as venae albae et lacteae (“white and milky veins”) by their discoverer, Gaspare Aselli, an Italian physician and professor of anatomy and surgery of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The smallest of the lacteals are the lacteal capillaries, each a minute vessel running down the centre of a villus, or fingerlike projection, in the mucous membrane lining the small intestine. The lacteal capillaries empty into lacteals in the submucosa, the connective tissue directly beneath the mucous membrane. The largest lacteals empty into the lymph nodes of the mesentery, the fold of membrane that encloses most of the intestines and anchors them to the rear wall of the abdomen.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • lactéal — ● lactéal, lactéale, lactéaux adjectif (latin lacteus) Relatif aux dents de lait (dents lactéales). ● lactéal, lactéale, lactéaux (expressions) adjectif (latin lacteus) Dentition lactéale, première poussée dentaire des jeunes de mammifères.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Lacteal — Lac te*al, a. [L. lacteus milky, fr. lac, lactis, milk. Cf. {Galaxy}, {Lettuce}.] 1. Pertaining to, or resembling, milk; milky; as, the lacteal fluid. [1913 Webster] 2. (Anat. & Physiol.) Pertaining to, or containing, chyle; as, the lacteal… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Lacteal — Lac te*al, n. (Anat.) One of the lymphatic vessels which convey chyle from the small intestine through the mesenteric glands to the thoracic duct; a chyliferous vessel. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lacteal — (adj.) 1650s, formed in English from L. lacteus, from lac (gen. lactis) milk, from PIE root *glakt (see LACTATION (Cf. lactation)) + AL (Cf. al) (1) …   Etymology dictionary

  • lacteal — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ conveying milk or milky fluid. ► NOUN (lacteals) Anatomy ▪ the lymphatic vessels of the small intestine which absorb digested fats. ORIGIN Latin lacteus, from lac milk …   English terms dictionary

  • lacteal — [lak′tē əl] adj. [< L lacteus, milky < lac (see LACTO ) + AL] 1. of or like milk; milky 2. containing or carrying chyle, the milky fluid that is a product of digestion n. any of the lymphatic vessels that take up this fluid from the small… …   English World dictionary

  • lacteal — 1. Relating to or resembling milk; milky. 2. A lymphatic vessel that conveys chyle. SYN: chyle vessel, l. vessel. central l. the blindly ending lymphatic capillary in the center of an intestinal villus …   Medical dictionary

  • Lacteal — Infobox Anatomy Name = PAGENAME Latin = GraySubject = GrayPage = Caption = Transverse section of a villus, from the human intestine. X 350. a. Basement membrane, here somewhat shrunken away from the epithelium. b. Lacteal. c. Columnar epithelium …   Wikipedia

  • lacteal — 1. adjective a) Relating to milk. ..lacteal ducts in the breasts... b) Relating to milk production. See Also: lactating, lactation 2. noun Lactiferous ducts or other components of milk producing organs …   Wiktionary

  • lacteal vessel — lacteal (def. 3) …   Medical dictionary

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