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Glite Dictionary
lesser omentum

lesser omentum

9.6
A thin fold of tissue that joins the stomach to the liver and holds the liver's blood vessels
  • noun
  • /ˈlɛsər ˈoʊmɛntəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : omento menor
  • The lesser omentum is attached to the top edge of the stomach and extends to the undersurface of the liver.

Examples

  • During the anatomy lesson, we learned that the lesser omentum connects the stomach to the liver.

  • A surgeon carefully examined the lesser omentum to ensure no vessels were damaged.

  • The lesser omentum is attached to the top edge of the stomach and extends to the undersurface of the liver.

Surface Forms

lesser omentum singular
lesser omenta plural

Morphology

lesser + omentum

The compound is directly compositional: 'lesser' indicates the smaller of two items and 'omentum' is a peritoneal fold, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes the smaller omental fold. Although the exact anatomical attachments are technical, the basic meaning (a smaller peritoneal fold) follows straightforwardly from the parts and is cross-linguistically and morphologically transparent.

Etymology

Lesser omentum comes from an old word: omentum meant an 'apron' of tissue and lesser means the smaller one. So the name pictures a small apron-like fold that connects the stomach and the liver and helps hold the blood vessels in place.