ˈträfəˌblast noun
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary troph- + -blast
: a special layer of ectodermal tissue that forms the outer surface of the blastodermic vesicle of many mammals, destroys the tissues of the uterus with which it comes in contact, is held to supply nutrition to the embryo and to secure the attachment of the egg to the wall of the uterus, and becomes differentiated into an outer syncytial or plasmodial syntrophoblast and an inner cellular cytotrophoblast which enter into the formation of the placenta
• troph·o·blas·tic | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷|blastik adjective