vena cutanea
- noun
- /ˈviːnə kjuːˈteɪniə/
- Specialized
- Several venae cutaneae converge to empty into deeper veins in the leg.
Examples
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The surgeon carefully avoided the vena cutanea during the procedure.
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Damage to a vena cutanea can cause severe bruising under the skin.
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The vena cutanea plays a crucial role in venous drainage.
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What is the function of the vena cutanea?
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The surgeon carefully avoided the vena cutanea during the procedure.
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Damage to a vena cutanea can cause severe bruising under the skin.
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Several venae cutaneae converge to empty into deeper veins in the leg.
Synonyms
A small tube under the skin that carries blood to deeper veins
Surface Forms
Morphology
vena + cutanea
The meaning is directly compositional: 'vena' = vein and 'cutanea' (cutaneous) = relating to the skin, so 'vena cutanea' straightforwardly denotes a vein in the skin/subcutaneous tissue. Although 'cutanea' is a medical/Latin form rather than everyday English, cognates like 'cutaneous' (and similar forms in other languages) make the skin-related sense predictable to learners who know the constituents.
Etymology
Vena cutanea comes from the Latin words vena and cutanea, meaning 'vein' and 'skin'. So vena cutanea is literally a small 'skin vein' just under the skin that flows into deeper veins, which is why damage to it can cause bruising.