Word.ws English Dictionary

rete mirabile

UK/ˌɹiːti mɪˈɹɑːbɪleɪ/

rete mirabile noun: a complex of blood vessels found in some vertebrates that preserves a gradient of a certain solute or particle, originally specifically the network of arterioles at the base of the brain in some ungulates and other mammals.

Noun

rete mirabile (plural retia mirabilia)

  1. A complex of blood vessels found in some vertebrates that preserves a gradient of a certain solute or particle, originally specifically the network of arterioles at the base of the brain in some ungulates and other mammals.
    • His description of the rete mirabile, the network of arteries at the base of the brain, shows he dissected animals as well as human corpses, since it does not exist in humans.1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Folio Society, published 2016, page 65
    • In whales, the rete mirabile also allows oxygenated blood to be supplied to the brain slowly, helping to avoid the problems human beings experience when swimming at depth – principally the bends.2020, Tim Ecott, The Land of Maybe, Short Books, published 2021, page 175

Forms of rete mirabile

pluralretia mirabilia
alternative formrete mirabilis

Origin of rete mirabile

From Medieval Latin rete mirabile (literally “wonderful net”) (14th century).

Questions about rete mirabile

What does rete mirabile mean?
Rete mirabile means a complex of blood vessels found in some vertebrates that preserves a gradient of a certain solute or particle, originally specifically the network of arterioles at the base of the brain in some ungulates and other mammals.
What part of speech is rete mirabile?
Rete mirabile is a noun.
How do you pronounce rete mirabile?
Rete mirabile is pronounced /ˌɹiːti mɪˈɹɑːbɪleɪ/ (UK).
What is the plural of rete mirabile?
The plural of rete mirabile is retia mirabilia.

Words near rete mirabile in the dictionary

  1. retd
  2. retd.
  3. rete
  4. Rete algorithm
  5. Rete algorithms
  6. rete mirabile
  7. rete mirabiles
  8. rete mirabili
  9. rete mirabilis
  10. rete testis
  11. reteach

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rete mirabile (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.

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