ˈpektə̇n noun
Etymology: New Latin pectin-, pecten, from Latin, comb, pubic hair, pubic bone, scallop — more at pectinate
1. plural pectens -tə̇nz also pecti·nes -təˌnēz : any of various animal body parts resembling a comb in structure: as
a. : a vascular pigmented membrane in the eyes of nearly all birds and many reptiles that has parallel plications suggesting the teeth of a comb and that projects into the vitreous humor of the eye from the point of entrance of the optic nerve
b. archaic : pubis
c. : one of a pair of appendages of a scorpion that are located on the underside of the body behind the legs and are thought to be sensory organs
d. : an arrangement of bristles on the respiratory tube of a mosquito larva resembling a comb
e. : a series of modified bristles forming a part of the stridulating organ of some spiders
2.
a. capitalized : a genus (the type of the family Pectinidae) of marine bivalve mollusks including the common market scallops — see bay scallop , sea scallop
b. -s : any mollusk of this genus ; broadly : a mollusk of the suborder Pectinacea