pineal

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: pin=e=al

CIDE DICTIONARY

pineal, a. [L. pinea the cone of a pine, from pineus of the pine, from pinus a pine: cf. F. pinéale.].

 Of or pertaining to a pine cone; resembling a pine cone.  [1913 Webster]

Pineal gland (Anat.), a glandlike body in the roof of the third ventricle of the vertebrate brain; -- called also pineal body, epiphysis, conarium. In some animals it is connected with a rudimentary eye, the so-called pineal eye, and in other animals it is supposed to be the remnant of a dorsal median eye.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pineal, adj. shaped like a pine cone.

Idiom

pineal body (or gland) a pea-sized conical mass of tissue behind the third ventricle of the brain, secreting a hormone-like substance in some mammals.

Etymology

F pin{eacute}al f. L pinea pine cone: see PINE(1)