trəˈbekyələ noun
( plural trabecu·lae -əˌlē, -lī ; also trabeculas )
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, little beam, diminutive of trabs, trabes beam, timber, roof — more at thorp
1. : a small bar, rod, bundle of fibers, or septal membrane in the framework of a bodily organ or part (as the spleen)
2.
a. : a row of cells bridging an intercellular space in a plant
b. : a fold, ridge, or bar projecting into or extending across a cell or into a sporangial cavity
c. : a row or plate of sterile cells extending in a moss across the cavity of a sporangium ; also : one of the transverse thickenings on the peristome teeth of a moss
3. : one of a pair of longitudinally directed more or less curved cartilaginous rods in the developing skull of a vertebrate that develop under the anterior part of the brain on each side of the pituitary body and subsequently fuse with each other and with the parachordal cartilages to form the base of the cartilaginous cranium