ACINUS (acini)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: acini   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does acinus mean? 

• ACINUS (noun)
  The noun ACINUS has 2 senses:

1. one of the small drupes making up an aggregate or multiple fruit like a blackberry

2. one of the small sacs or saclike dilations in a compound gland

  Familiarity information: ACINUS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ACINUS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One of the small drupes making up an aggregate or multiple fruit like a blackberry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("acinus" is a kind of...):

drupelet (a small part of an aggregate fruit that resembles a drupe)

Derivation:

acinar (pertaining to the individual parts making up an aggregate fruit like a blackberry)

Sense 2

Meaning:

One of the small sacs or saclike dilations in a compound gland

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("acinus" is a kind of...):

sac (a structure resembling a bag in an animal)

Holonyms ("acinus" is a part of...):

gland; secreter; secretor; secretory organ (any of various organs that synthesize substances needed by the body and release it through ducts or directly into the bloodstream)

Derivation:

acinar; acinic; acinous (pertaining to one of the small sacs (as in a compound gland))

 Context examples 

The HAN is a focal area with closely packed acini with slightly atypical nuclei

(LobuloAlveolar Mouse MIN, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

The tiny tubules with a very thin epithelial layer in the salivary glands running from the salivary acini into the striated duct.

(Intercalated Duct of the Salivary Gland System, NCI Thesaurus)

The tiny tubules with a very thin epithelial layer in the pancreas running from the pancreatic acini into the striated duct.

(Intercalated Duct of the Pancreas, NCI Thesaurus)

The acini within the lobules generally have epithelial cells with large, hyperchromatic and somewhat pleomorphic nuclei.

(Inflammatory Nodule of the Mouse Mammary Gland, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia characterized by the proliferation of secretory cells with irregular spacing in the ducts and acini.

(Low Grade Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

Collection of multiple empty acini lined by a single layer of cuboidal or flattened epithelium.

(Mouse Cholangioma, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

The glandular architecture consists of small, round acini amid loosely woven, randomly oriented stroma.

(Peripheral Zone of the Prostatic Parenchyma, NCI Thesaurus)

A cell with a centrally placed nucleus found in the proximal portion of pancreatic intercalated duct that protrudes into the acinus.

(Pancreatic Centroacinar Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

Any of the cells lining an acinus; acinus is a general term used to designate a small saclike dilatation, particularly one found in various glands.

(Murine Acinar Cells, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

The malignant cells may grow within the ducts and acini in four architectural patterns: flat, tufting, micropapillary, and cribriform.

(High Grade Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia, NCI Thesaurus)