Tubercle
/ˈtjuː.bə.kəl/noun
A small rounded swelling or nodule on a plant, animal, or body part.
Did you know?Tubercle comes from Latin *tuberculum*, a diminutive of *tuber* (“swelling, lump”), the same root behind *tuber* and *tuberosity*, showing how anatomy was named by shape long before modern medicine.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*teu-
“to swell, bulge”
Latin
Latin
tuber
“a swelling, lump, or protuberance”
Latin
Latin
tuberculum
“a small swelling or little lump”
Late Middle English
English
tubercle
“a small swelling or nodule”
Modern English
English
tubercle
“a small rounded projection or nodule”
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