Meanings
plural proventriculi
- biologyThe part of the avian stomach, between the crop and the gizzard, that secretes digestive enzymes.First known use 19th c.
In fulmars, the proventriculus is very baggy, and has thick wrinkled walls lined with glands that excrete the waxy oil which courting birds pass to one another in small amounts, perhaps as a way of scent-marking their mate.
2020, Tim Ecott, The Land of Maybe, Short Books, published 2021, page 201 - biologyA similar part of the digestive system in insects and myriapods.First known use 19th c.
Origin
- New Latinproventriculus
- Englishproventriculus
From New Latin proventriculus (19th century), from pro- + ventriculus.
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Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with proventriculus
All rhymes →Cite this entry
proventriculus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proventriculus
“proventriculus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proventriculus. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “proventriculus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proventriculus.
Source: proventriculus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.