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Glite Dictionary
parietal pericardium

parietal pericardium

9.3
A tough outer layer around the heart attached to the diaphragm and breastbone
  • noun
  • /pəˈraɪətəl ˌpɛrɪˈkɑrdɪəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pericardio parietal
  • The parietal pericardium protects the heart by providing a tough outer layer.

Examples

  • Inflammation of the parietal pericardium can cause significant chest pain.

  • Surgeons often need to access the parietal pericardium during heart surgery.

  • During surgery, the parietal pericardium was carefully separated from the diaphragm.

  • The parietal pericardium protects the heart.

  • During surgery, the parietal pericardium was carefully separated from the diaphragm.

  • Inflammation of the parietal pericardium can cause significant chest pain.

  • Surgeons often need to access the parietal pericardium during heart surgery.

Surface Forms

parietal pericardium singular
parietal pericardia plural

Morphology

parietal + pericardium

The compound is compositionally transparent: 'parietal' means relating to a lining or wall and 'pericardium' is the membrane around the heart, so together they denote the pericardium's wall/outer layer. This adjective+noun anatomical naming is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern, so a learner who knows both constituent words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Parietal pericardium comes from words that mean parietal 'wall' and pericardium 'around the heart', so it is the tough outer wall of the sac around the heart, protecting it.