Ossae

Ossae is a Latin term encountered in anatomical terminology to denote bones. In standard medical Latin, the plural of os (bone) is ossa, which appears in many proper phrases used in anatomy and medical literature.

The form ossae is less common and is generally considered an alternate, archaic, or less standard plural in modern usage. In contemporary anatomy, ossa is preferred for the plural of os. When Latin is used in nomenclature, ossa typically appears in combination with a descriptor to indicate a group of bones, while English texts often translate the phrase as “bones of ….”

Usage notes: The word os is a neuter noun of Latin origin; its classical plural is ossa. In modern English-language anatomical writing, ossa is the conventional plural form, appearing in captions, labels, and formal terminology, with the English word bone used in ordinary prose.

Common examples: ossa cranii, the bones of the skull, and ossa coxae, the hip bones. These phrases illustrate the standard pattern of using ossa with descriptive nouns to name groups of bones in anatomical nomenclature.

In summary, ossae appears in some sources as a historical or alternate form, but ossa remains the normative plural for os in contemporary anatomical language.