ˌd(y)üəˈdēnəm, d(y)üˈäd ə n- noun
( plural duode·na -ēnə, - ə nə ; or duodenums -ēnəmz, - ə nəmz)
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin, from Latin duodeni twelve each; from its length, about 12 fingers' breadth
: the first, shortest, and widest part of the small intestine that in man is about 10 inches long and that extends from the pylorus to the undersurface of the liver where it descends for a variable distance and receives the bile and pancreatic ducts and then bends to the left and finally upward to join the jejunum near the second lumbar vertebra — see digestion illustration