tarsus

plural tarsi

1. The part between the main part of the hindlimb and the metatarsus in terrestrial vertebrates.
   1. anatomyA group of small bones in this part of the foot. The seven bones of the human tarsus form the ankle and upper part of the foot.
   2. anatomyThe shank or tarsometatarsus of the leg of a bird or reptile.

      On the ledge, the guillemots shuffle awkwardly about on their tarsi, the long bone connecting the ‘ankle’ to the feet.

      2020, Tim Ecott, The Land of Maybe, Short Books, published 2021, page 99

   3. anatomyThe true foot or the fifth joint of the leg of an insect or other arthropod, typically consisting of several small segments and ending in a claw.
2. anatomyA plate of dense connective tissue found in each eyelid, attached to either the superior tarsal muscle (in the upper eyelid) or inferior tarsal muscle (lower eyelid), which aid with sympathetic control.

1. A city in Mersin Province in southeastern Turkey, an important center of Cilicia since antiquity.

   Synonyms: Tarsa, Tarsos, Antioch, Antioch on the Cydnus, Juliopolis