VERTEBRA

noun (plural ~e or -bras) Etymology: Latin, joint, ~, from vertere to turn Date: 1578 one of the bony or cartilaginous segments composing the spinal column, consisting in some lower ~tes of several distinct elements which never become united, and in higher ~tes having a short more or less cylindrical body whose ends articulate by pads of elastic or cartilaginous tissue with those of adjacent ~e and a bony arch that encloses the spinal cord