placenta
noun
- organ that connects the developing foetus to the uterine wall
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /pləˈsɛntə/ / [pʰl̥əˈsɛntʰə] / /pləˈsɪntə/
noun
Etymology: Elision for phrases such as New Latin placenta uterī (“womb cake”), placenta uterina (“uterine cake”), from Latin placenta (“flat cake”), because of the flat round shape of the afterbirth.
- An organ in most mammals during gestation that supplies food and oxygen to the foetus and passes back waste. It is on the wall of the uterus and links to the foetus through the umbilical cord. It is expelled after birth.
- In flowering plants, the part of the ovary where ovules develop; in non-flowering plants where the spores develop.