pecten noun. ['pɛktɛn] Pl. pectines ['pɛktɪni:z], pectens. LME.
[Latin = comb, wool-card, pubic hair; rel. to pectere, Greek pek(t)ein to comb.]
1. Anatomy. The bones in the hand between the wrist and fingers; the metacarpus. In early use also, the bones of the foot, the metatarsus. LME-M16.

2. Anatomy. The pubic region; the pubis. Now only in pecten pubis, the anterior edge of the upper pubis. LME.

3. (The shell of) a bivalve mollusc of the genus Pecten or a similar genus; a scallop. L17.

4. Zoology. Any of various comblike structures, esp. (a) a pigmented vascular projection from the choroid in the eye of a bird; (b) an appendage in an arthropod consisting of or bearing a row of bristles or chitinous teeth, e.g. on the feet of pollen-gathering bees and in the breathing apparatus of mosquito larvae. E18.

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