ˌasəˈtabyələm noun
( plural acetabulums -ləmz ; or acetabu·la -lə)
Etymology: Latin, from acetum vinegar — more at acetic
1. : a little cup used in ancient Rome to hold vinegar or sauce at the table
2.
a. : the cup-shaped socket in the hipbone that receives the head of the thigh bone
b. : the cavity into which the leg of an insect is inserted at its articulation with the body
3.
[New Latin, from Latin]
: one of the cotyledons or lobes of the placenta in ruminating animals
4.
[New Latin, from Latin]
: a sucker of certain invertebrates: as
a. : a ventral sucker of many trematodes
b. : one of the suckers on the scolex of a tapeworm
c. : the posterior sucker of a leech