lacteal

See also: lactéal

English

Etymology

Latin lac. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

lacteal (comparative more lacteal, superlative most lacteal)

  1. Relating to milk.
  2. (anatomy) Relating to milk production.
    lacteal ducts in the breasts
  3. Relating to, or containing, chyle.
    the lacteal vessels

Noun

lacteal (plural lacteals)

  1. (physiology, chiefly in the plural) Each of the lymphatic vessels which convey chyle from the mesentery to the thoracic duct.
    • 1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Folio Society 2016, p. 65:
      These ‘veins’ must have been the lacteals or chyle-vessels, whose function was explained by Aselli some two thousand years later.
  2. (obsolete) One of the lactiferous ducts or other components of milk-producing organs.
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