Medical Dictionary

uterus

Pronunciation (yū′tĕr-ŭs, ū′ter-ī)

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The hollow muscular organ in which the ootid is developed into the embryo and fetus; it is about 7.5-cm long in a nonpregnant woman; consists of a main portion (body) with an elongated lower part (cervix), at the extremity of which is the opening (external os). The upper rounded portion of the uterus, opposite the os, is the fundus, at each extremity of which is the horn marking the part where the uterine tube joins the uterus and through which the morula reaches the uterine cavity after leaving the uterine tube. The organ is passively supported in the pelvic cavity by the vagina and paracolpium and by the anteflexion and anteversion of the normal uterus, which places its mass superior to the bladder; it is actively supported by the tonic and phasic contraction of the muscles of the pelvic floor.

Syn: metra, womb

[L.]

WebMD Medical Reference from "Stedman's Medical Dictionary"

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