From Latin placenta 'flat cake,' from Greek plakous, named by Colombo in 1559 for the organ's round, flat shape.
The vascular organ in the uterus of pregnant mammals that nourishes and maintains the fetus through the umbilical cord.
From Latin placenta 'flat cake,' from Greek plakoenta (accusative of plakous) 'flat cake,' from plax 'flat surface.' The organ was named for its round, flat shape resembling a cake. The Italian anatomist Realdo Colombo named it in 1559 in his De Re Anatomica. Key roots: *pleh₂k- (Proto-Indo-European: "flat, broad").