Word.ws English Dictionary

patella

/pəˈtɛlə/

patella noun: the sesamoid bone of the knee; the kneecap. Also the alternative form of putelee.

patella: the sesamoid bone of the knee; the kneecap
Image: BruceBlaus . When using this image in external sources it, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

patella (plural patellas or patellae)

  1. The sesamoid bone of the knee; the kneecap.
    • Subluxed patellas, more commonly referred to as slipped stifles, like all inherited factors will continue to cripple a breed as long as breeders continue to mate affected animals.2004, Ann Seranne, The Joy of Breeding Your Own Show Dog, page 188
    • Since patella diameter is a feature of continuous variation, the majority of small patellas represent simply the lower extreme of normal anatomic variation.2005, Roger E. Stevenson, 20: Limbs, Roger E. Stevenson, Judith G. Hall, Human Malformations and Related Anomalies, page 920
    Synonyms:
    kneecap, kneepan, rotula
  2. A little dish or vase.
  3. An orbicular sessile apothecium, with a marginal rim distinct from the thallus.

Proper noun capitalized: Patella

Patella (plural Patellas)

  1. A surname from Italian.

Also used as

patella is also the alternative form of putelee.

Examples of patella in a sentence

  • Both patellae are well preserved for Dolni Věstonice 3 and 13-15, and the left patella remains for Dolni Věstonice 16 (Figures 18.22 to 18.26).2006, Erik Trinkaus, “18: The Lower Limb Remains”, in Erik Trinkaus, Jiří Svoboda, editors, Early Modern Human Evolution in Central Europe...
  • The patellae may be up to 30° externally rotated at birth.2009, P. Tohomson, “14: Assessment of the paediatric patient”, in Ben Yates, editor, Merriman's Assessment of the Lower Limb, page 401:

Synonyms of patella

Forms of patella

Noun
pluralpatellas
pluralpatellae
Proper noun
pluralPatellas

Origin of patella

From Latin patella (“a small pan or dish, a plate; the kneepan, patella”), diminutive of patina (“a broad shallow dish, pan”). Doublet of paella.

Borrowed from Italian Patella.

Questions about patella

What does patella mean?
Patella means the sesamoid bone of the knee; the kneecap.
How do you use patella in a sentence?
Both patellae are well preserved for Dolni Věstonice 3 and 13-15, and the left patella remains for Dolni Věstonice 16 (Figures 18.22 to 18.26).
What part of speech is patella?
Patella can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce patella?
Patella is pronounced /pəˈtɛlə/ (US).
What is the plural of patella?
The plural of patella is patellas.

Words near patella in the dictionary

  1. patelas
  2. Pateled
  3. Pateley Bridge
  4. Pateling
  5. patell
  6. patella
  7. patella femoral pain syndrome
  8. patellacean
  9. patellae
  10. patellamide
  11. patellamides

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: patella (page history and authors); Patella (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-patella.wav.

Cite this entry: “patella.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/patella. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.