ˈt(y)übə(r)kəl noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin tuberculum, diminutive of tuber
1. : a small knobby prominence or excrescence: as
a.
(1) : a prominence on the crown of a molar tooth
(2) : a small rough prominence (as on the front of the head of the tibia for the patellar ligament or on the femur at the upper part of the junction of the neck and great trochanter or on the ulna at the base of the coronoid process) on a bone usually being smaller than a tuberosity and serving for the attachment of one or more muscles or ligaments
(3) : an eminence near the head of a rib that articulates with the transverse process of a vertebra
b. : any of several prominences in the central nervous system that mark the nuclei of various nerves
the acoustic tubercle
c. : nodule 2b(3)
d.
(1) : a small tuber
(2) : a tuberous root (as of a dahlia) that bears adventitious buds and functions like a true tuber
e. : tubercule 2
2.
a. : a small discrete lump in the substance of an organ or in the skin:
(1) : the specific lesion of tuberculosis consisting of a packed mass of epithelioid cells, giant cells, disintegration products of leukocytes and bacilli, and usually a necrotic center
(2) : a similar mass occurring as a local tissue reaction in diseases other than tuberculosis
b. : tuberculosis — not used technically