A small cup-shaped cavity or depression, especially in anatomical structures.
From Latin cotula, diminutive of cota (cup), borrowed from Greek kotyle (socket). The term entered medical and anatomical vocabulary to describe small cuplike formations in biological structures.
Medical terminology often recycles the same ancient root words in different combinations—cotula gave us an entire family of -cotyl- words that describe everything from plant seed leaves to hip sockets, showing how one simple word for 'cup' became the foundation for understanding structure.
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