Meanings
plural cartilages
- uncountableanatomyA usually translucent and somewhat elastic, dense, nonvascular connective tissue found in various forms in the larynx and respiratory tract, in structures such as the external ear, and in the articulating surfaces of joints. It composes most of the skeleton of vertebrate embryos, being replaced by bone during ossification in the higher vertebrates.
Synonyms: gristle
- countableanatomyA particular structure made of cartilage.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA usually translucent and somewhat elastic, dense, nonvascular connective tissue found in various forms in the larynx and respiratory tract, in structures such as the external ear, and in the articulating surfaces of joints. It composes most of the skeleton of vertebrate embryos, being replaced by bone during ossification in the higher vertebrates.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Afrikaans kraakbeen
- kraakbeenelastic tissue
Ancient Greek χόνδρος
- χόνδρος (khóndros)elastic tissue
Arabic غُضْرُوف
- غُضْرُوف (ḡuḍrūf)elastic tissue
Basque kurruska
- kurruskaelastic tissue
Bengali উপাস্থি, কোমলাস্থি
- উপাস্থি (upasthi)elastic tissue
- কোমলাস্থি (kōmolasthi)elastic tissue
Bulgarian хрущя́л
- хрущя́л (hruštjál)elastic tissue
Catalan cartílag
- cartílagelastic tissue
Chinese Cantonese 軟骨 /软骨
- 軟骨 /软骨 (jyun⁵ gwat¹)elastic tissue
Chinese Mandarin 軟骨 /软骨
- 軟骨 /软骨 (ruǎngǔ)elastic tissue
Czech chrupavka
- chrupavkaelastic tissue
Danish brusk
- bruskelastic tissue
Dutch kraakbeen
- kraakbeenelastic tissue
Esperanto kartilago
- kartilagoelastic tissue
Estonian kõhr
- kõhrelastic tissue
Finnish rusto, rustokudos
- rustoelastic tissue
- rustokudoselastic tissue
French cartilage
- cartilageelastic tissue
German Knorpel
- Knorpelelastic tissue
Greek χόνδρος
- χόνδρος (chóndros)elastic tissue
Hebrew סְחוּס
- סְחוּס (skhus)elastic tissue
Hindi उपास्थि, कार्टिलेज
- उपास्थि (upāsthi)elastic tissue
- कार्टिलेज (kārṭilej)elastic tissue
Hungarian porc
- porcelastic tissue
Icelandic brjósk
- brjóskelastic tissue
Indonesian tulang rawan, rawan
- tulang rawanelastic tissue
- rawanelastic tissue
Irish loingeán
- loingeánelastic tissue
Italian cartilagine
- cartilagineelastic tissue
Japanese 軟骨
- 軟骨 (nankotsu)elastic tissue
Korean 연골
- 연골 (yeon'gol)elastic tissue
Latin cartilāgō
- cartilāgōelastic tissue
Latvian skrimslis
- skrimsliselastic tissue
Lithuanian kremzlė
- kremzlėelastic tissue
Malay rawan
- rawanelastic tissue
Māori pakaua, wheuangohe
- pakauaelastic tissue
- wheuangoheelastic tissue
Norwegian Bokmål brusk
- bruskelastic tissue
Persian غُضروف, کُرجَن
- غُضروف (ġozruf)elastic tissue
- کُرجَن (korjan)elastic tissue
Polish chrząstka
- chrząstkaelastic tissue
Portuguese cartilagem
- cartilagemelastic tissue
Romanian cartilaj
- cartilajelastic tissue
Russian хрящ
- хрящ (xrjašč)elastic tissue
Slovak chrupka, chrupavka
- chrupkaelastic tissue
- chrupavkaelastic tissue
Spanish cartílago, cartilágine
- cartílagoelastic tissue
- cartilágineelastic tissue
- ternillaelastic tissue
Swahili gegedu
- gegeduelastic tissue
Swedish brosk
- broskelastic tissue
Tagalog kartilago, malabuto
- kartilagoelastic tissue
- malabutoelastic tissue
Thai กระดูกอ่อน
- กระดูกอ่อน (grà-dùuk-ɔ̀ɔn)elastic tissue
Turkish kıkırdak
- kıkırdakelastic tissue
Ukrainian хрящ
- хрящ (xrjašč)elastic tissue
Urdu کُر کُرّی ہَڈّی, کُرّی
- کُر کُرّی ہَڈّی (kur kurrī haḍḍī)elastic tissue
- کُرّی (kurrī)elastic tissue
- غُضْروف (ġuzrūf)elastic tissue
- غَضْروف (ġazrūf)elastic tissue
- اُپاسْتی (upāsti)elastic tissue
- کارْٹِلیج (kārṭilej)elastic tissue
Vietnamese sụn
- sụnelastic tissue
Yiddish ווייכביין
- ווייכביין (veykhbeyn)elastic tissue
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
cartilage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cartilage
“cartilage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cartilage. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cartilage,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cartilage.
Source: cartilage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.