ˈkärpəs, ˈkȧp- noun
( plural car·pi -ˌpī, -ˌpē)
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek karpos wrist — more at wharf
1.
a. : the wrist or the part of the forelimb between the antebrachium and the metacarpus
b. : the group of bones supporting the wrist comprising in man a proximal row which contains the navicular, lunatum, triquetrum, and pisiform that articulate with the radius and a distal row which contains the trapezium, trapezoid, capitatum, and hamatum that articulate with the metacarpals, the number being modified in many specialized forelimbs (as those of birds) by disappearance or fusion of certain of the bony elements or by additon of a bone between the two rows — compare centrale
2. : the fifth segment from the base of a generalized appendage of a crustacean (as one of the walking legs of a lobster)