trapezium bone

8.3

A small wrist bone near the thumb that helps it move

noun
/trəˈpiːziəm boʊn/

Specialized

: hueso trapezio

Arthritis in the trapezium bone is a common cause of thumb pain in older adults.

Examples

The trapezium bone is crucial in allowing the thumb its wide range of motion.
An injury to the trapezium bone can severely impact your ability to grip objects.
The trapezium bone is crucial for thumb movement.
I fractured my trapezium bone while playing basketball.
Arthritis in the trapezium bone is a common cause of thumb pain in older adults.
An injury to the trapezium bone can severely impact your ability to grip objects.
I fractured my trapezium bone while playing basketball.

Synonyms

trapezium

vstrapezium bone

Specialized

1 7.9

A small bone in the wrist on the thumb side that connects to the base of the thumb

is the longer phrase that names the same bone more fully

os trapezium

vstrapezium bone

Specialized

9.8

A small wrist bone on the thumb side that joins the base of the thumb and index finger

is the English phrase used instead of the Latin term

Surface Forms

trapezium bone singular

trapezium bones plural

Morphology

trapezium + bone

The phrase is compositional: 'trapezium' already denotes a specific carpal bone and 'bone' simply marks it as a skeletal element, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to the carpal bone by the thumb. Although technical, this follows standard anatomical naming patterns (cross-linguistically common), making the meaning directly derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Trapezium bone gets its name from its shape. The word trapezium originally meant a 'small four-sided table', so this small bone by the thumb looks a bit like a little table. That's why the name means the wrist bone by the thumb that helps the thumb move.