Placentas

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Placenta \Pla*cen"ta\, n.; pl. L. {Placent[ae]}, E. {Placentas}.
     [L., a cake, Gr. ? a flat cake, from ? flat, fr. ?, ?,
     anything flat and broad.]
     1. (Anat.) The vascular appendage which connects the fetus
        with the parent, and is cast off in parturition with the
        afterbirth.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In most mammals the placenta is principally developed
           from the allantois and chorion, and tufts of vascular
           villi on its surface penetrate the blood vessels of the
           parental uterus, and thus establish a nutritive and
           excretory connection between the blood of the fetus and
           that of the parent, though the blood itself does not
           flow from one to the other.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Bot.) The part of a pistil or fruit to which the ovules
        or seeds are attached.
        [1913 Webster]