conjunctiva

English

Etymology

From 1540s late Middle English, borrowing from Medieval Latin conjūnctīva (“serving to connect, connective”, feminine), ellipsis of membrāna conjūnctīva (“conjunctive membrane”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkɒn.dʒʌŋ(k)ˈtʌɪ.və/, /kənˈdʒʌŋ(k).tɪv.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌkɑnˌd͡ʒʌŋ(k)ˈtaɪ.və/, /kənˌd͡ʒʌŋ(k)ˈtaɪ.və/
• Rhymes: -aɪvə, -ʌŋktɪvə

Noun

conjunctiva (plural conjunctivas or conjunctivae)

1. (anatomy) A clear mucous membrane that lines the inner surface of the eyelid and the exposed surface of the eyeball or sclera.

   Hyponym: bulbar conjunctiva

   • 1884, Elliott Coues, “§ 4.—An Introduction to the Anatomy of Birds.”, in Key to North American Birds. […], 2nd edition, Boston, Mass.: Estes and Lauriat, →OCLC, part II (General Ornithology), page 180:

     There is a third inner eyelid, highly developed and of beautiful mechanism: this is the nictitating membrane, or "winker" (nictito, I wink), a delicate, elastic, translucent, pearly-white fold of the conjunctiva. While the other lids move vertically and have a horizontal commissure, the winker sweeps horizontally or obliquely across the ball, from the side next the beak to the opposite.

Derived terms

• conjunctival
• conjunctivo-, conjunctiv-
• subconjunctiva

Related terms

• conjunctivally
• conjunctive

Translations

mucous membrane

• Catalan: conjuntiva f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 結膜／结膜 (zh) (jiémó)

• Czech: spojivka f
• Faroese: eygnareyði m
• Finnish: sidekalvo
• French: conjonctive (fr) f
• Galician: conxuntiva (gl) f
• German: Bindehaut (de) f
• Greek: επιπεφυκώς (el) m (epipefykós)
• Hungarian: kötőhártya (hu)
• Indonesian: konjungtiva (id)
• Interlingua: conjunctiva
• Japanese: 結膜 (ja) (ketsumaku)
• Macedonian: сврзница f (svrznica)
• Malay: konjunktiva
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: konjunktiva (no) m

  Nynorsk: konjunktiva m

• Polish: spojówka (pl) f
• Portuguese: conjuntiva f
• Russian: конъюнкти́ва (ru) f (konʺjunktíva), сли́зистая оболо́чка гла́за f (slízistaja obolóčka gláza)
• Spanish: conjuntiva (es) f
• Swedish: bindhinna c
• Thai: เยื่อตา (yʉ̂ʉa-dtaa)

References

• “conjunctiva”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “conjunctiva”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Pronunciation

• conjūnctīva: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /kon.i̯uːnkˈtiː.u̯a/, [kɔni̯uːŋkˈt̪iːu̯ä]
• conjūnctīva: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kon.junkˈti.va/, [konjuŋkˈt̪iːvä]
• conjūnctīvā: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /kon.i̯uːnkˈtiː.u̯aː/, [kɔni̯uːŋkˈt̪iːu̯äː]
• conjūnctīvā: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kon.junkˈti.va/, [konjuŋkˈt̪iːvä]

Adjective

conjūnctīva

1. inflection of conjūnctīvus:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

conjūnctīvā

1. ablative feminine singular of conjūnctīvus