Word To Use Today: pisiform.

What does something pisiform look like?

Well, it looks like a pea (as we all guessed, though in this case our spelling might not have been quite accurate).

But why on earth have a word for something which looks like a pea? A pea is just...round. Isn't it?

Isn't the word pisiform a complete waste of space?

Well, it's important if your wrists aren't working: 



That's a x-ray of a human wrist, and little knobbly thing with the arrow pointing to it is a pisiform bone.

Here it is again:



(Hey, but I'm glad I've never been served peas that look like that.)

Hm...what else is there to say about the word pisiform? Well, many sorts of monkey have pisiform bones, and, just think, without them we'd probably have monkeys falling on our heads whenever we went for a walk in the jungle.

And nobody wants that.

Other than that, there are pisiform seeds and berries, and pisiform eggs.

And, very importantly, pisiform dinners:


<a href="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=25979&picture=green-peas-in-bowl">Green Peas In Bowl</a> by Petr Kratochvil

Basically, though, all I can say is that the word pisiform is like chocolate: we could live without it, but it wouldn't be nearly so much fun.

Would it?

Word To Use Today: pisiform. This word comes from the Latin words pīsum, which means pea, and forma, which means shape. I admit it's not the easiest word to bring into the conversation, but you should be able to tell yourself that someone you know has a pisiform brain.