reticulum

/rəˈtɪkjələm/

Other forms: reticula

A reticulum is a natural structure that resembles a net or web, like the veins in a leaf or the network of fibers in a cell.

You can use reticulum for anything in nature with a structure that looks like a net. In fact, the Latin meaning of the word is "a little net." Reticulum has been adopted for many scientific uses, including the name of a net-like constellation. A cow or other ruminant's second (of four) stomachs is also called a reticulum, from the honeycomb shape of its lining.

Definitions of reticulum

1. noun

   any fine network (especially one in the body composed of cells or blood vessels)
   types:

   neural net, neural network

   any network of neurons or nuclei that function together to perform some function in the body

   RF, reticular formation

   a complex neural network in the central core of the brainstem; monitors the state of the body and functions in such processes as arousal and sleep and attention and muscle tone

   RAS, reticular activating system

   the network in the reticular formation that serves an alerting or arousal function

   type of:

   network, web

   an interconnected system of things or people
2. noun

   the second compartment of the stomach of a ruminant
   synonyms: second stomach

   type of:

   breadbasket, stomach, tum, tummy

   an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion