[ra.phe] n [NL, fr. Gk rhaphe seam, fr. rhaptein to sew] (ca. 1753) 1: the seamlike union of the two lateral halves of a part or organ (as the tongue) having externally a ridge or furrow
2. a: the part of the stalk of an anatropous ovary that is united in growth to the outside covering and forms a ridge along the body of the ovule b: the median line or slit of a diatom's valve