tendon
noun/ˈtɛn.dən/
Etymology Borrowed from French tendon or Medieval Latin tendō, from Ancient Greek τένων (ténōn, “sinew, tendon”), modified by association with the verb tendō (“to stretch”). Compare Middle English thenoun.
1
Anatomy, Medicine, Sciences A tough band of flexible but inelastic fibrous collagen tissue that connects a muscle with its bony attachment and transmits the force which the muscle exerts.
- I hear a wrenching sound of tendons stretching and testing their anchors on the bone.2016, Ian McEwan, Nutshell, Vintage, page 78:
2
Biology, Natural sciences The hamstring of a quadruped.
3
Business, Construction, Manufacturing A wire or bar used to strengthen prestressed concrete.
- Derived terms
- Achilles tendon, Achilles’ tendon, calcaneal tendon, endotendon, intertendon, intratendon, mesotendon, midtendon, musculotendon, neotendon, paratendon, peritendon, quadriceps tendon, subtendon, tendinopathy, tendonectomy, tendonitis, tendon of Achilles, tendony
- Related terms
- ligament