Meanings
nounotolith (plural otoliths)
plural otoliths · alternative otolite
- anatomyA small particle, composed mainly of calcium carbonate, found in the inner ear of vertebrates, being part of the balance sense.
Synonyms: otoconium, otosteon, statoconium, statolith
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small particle, composed mainly of calcium carbonate, found in the inner ear of vertebrates, being part of the balance sense.
Origin
- Ancient Greekὠτο-
- Englishotolith
From oto- + -lith, from Ancient Greek ὠτο- (ōto-), stem of οὖς (oûs, “ear”), and λίθος (líthos, “stone”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque otolito
- otolitosmall particle in the inner ear
Catalan otòlit
- otòlitsmall particle in the inner ear
Chinese Mandarin 耳石
- 耳石 (ěrshí)small particle in the inner ear
Czech otolit
- otolitsmall particle in the inner ear
Danish otolit, øresten
- otolitsmall particle in the inner ear
- ørestensmall particle in the inner ear
Dutch otoliet
- otolietsmall particle in the inner ear
Esperanto otolito
- otolitosmall particle in the inner ear
Estonian otoliid
- otoliidsmall particle in the inner ear
Finnish tasapainokivi, otoliitti
- tasapainokivismall particle in the inner ear
- otoliittismall particle in the inner ear
French otolithe
- otolithesmall particle in the inner ear
German Otolith
- Otolithsmall particle in the inner ear
Hungarian otolit, mészkristályok
- otolitsmall particle in the inner ear
- mészkristályoksmall particle in the inner ear
Icelandic kvörn, stöðusteinn
- kvörnsmall particle in the inner ear
- stöðusteinnsmall particle in the inner ear
- eyrnavalasmall particle in the inner ear
- jafnvægiskornsmall particle in the inner ear
Indonesian otolit
- otolitsmall particle in the inner ear
Italian otolite
- otolitesmall particle in the inner ear
Japanese 耳石
- 耳石 (jiseki)small particle in the inner ear
Norwegian Bokmål otolitt
- otolittsmall particle in the inner ear
Polish otolit
- otolitsmall particle in the inner ear
Romanian otolit
- otolitsmall particle in the inner ear
Russian отоли́т
- отоли́т (otolít)small particle in the inner ear
Slovak otolit
- otolitsmall particle in the inner ear
Spanish otolito
- otolitosmall particle in the inner ear
Swedish otolit, öronsten
- otolitsmall particle in the inner ear
- öronstensmall particle in the inner ear
Ukrainian отоліт
- отоліт (otolit)small particle in the inner ear
Cite this entry
APA
otolith. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/otolith
MLA
“otolith.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/otolith. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “otolith,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/otolith.
Source: otolith on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.