Word.ws English Dictionary

stapes

Syllables: sta·pes/ˈsteɪ̯piːz/

stapes noun: a small stirrup-shaped innermost ossicle of the middle ear of mammals, transmitting vibrations from the incus to the inner ear. Also the plural of stape.

stapes: a small stirrup-shaped innermost ossicle of the middle ear of mammals, transmitting vibrations from...
Image: US Government (original), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

stapes (plural stapes or stapedes)

  1. A small stirrup-shaped innermost ossicle of the middle ear of mammals, transmitting vibrations from the incus to the inner ear.
    • The tympanic cavity is spanned by the three smallest bones in the body: the auditory ossicles[…] These bones, named for their shape, are the malleus (malʹe-us; "hammer"); the incus (ingʹkus; "anvil"); and the stapes (staʹpēz; "stirrup"). The "handle" of the malleus is secured to the eardrum, and...2010, Elaine Nicpon Marieb, Katja Hoehn, Human Anatomy & Physiology, 8th edition, page 576
    Synonyms:
    stirrup

Also used as

stapes is also the plural of stape.

stapes meaning in Thai and Vietnamese

stapes in Thai

Translations
กระดูกโกลน grà-dùuk-gloon

stapes in Vietnamese

Translations
xương bàn đạp

Synonyms of stapes

Forms of stapes

pluralstapes
pluralstapedes

Plural of stapes: stapes or stapedes

Origin of stapes

Borrowed from Medieval Latin stapēs (“stirrup”). Doublet of step.

Words formed from stapes

Questions about stapes

What does stapes mean?
Stapes means a small stirrup-shaped innermost ossicle of the middle ear of mammals, transmitting vibrations from the incus to the inner ear.
What is stapes in Thai?
Stapes in Thai is กระดูกโกลน (grà-dùuk-gloon). See Stapes meaning in Thai.
What part of speech is stapes?
Stapes is a noun.
How do you pronounce stapes?
Stapes is pronounced /ˈsteɪ̯piːz/.
What is the plural of stapes?
The plural of stapes is stapes.

Words near stapes in the dictionary

  1. Stapeleys
  2. stapelia
  3. stapelias
  4. Stapels
  5. Stapenhill
  6. stapes
  7. staph
  8. Staph epi
  9. staphidine
  10. staphlokinase
  11. staphopain

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stapes (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)-Persent101-stapes.wav.

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