Tarsi

Tar·sus  (tärss)

A city of southern Turkey near the Mediterranean Sea west of Adana. Settled in the Neolithic Period, it was one of the most important cities of Asia Minor under Roman rule (after 67 b.c.). Saint Paul was born in Tarsus. Population: 216,000.

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tar·sus  (tärss)

n. pl. tar·si (-s, -s)

1.

a. The section of the vertebrate foot between the leg and the metatarsus.

b. The bones making up this section, especially the seven small bones of the human ankle.

2. A fibrous plate that supports and shapes the edge of the eyelid. Also called tarsal plate.

3. Zoology

a. The tarsometatarsus.

b. The distal part of the leg of an arthropod, usually divided into segments.

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[New Latin, from Greek tarsos, ankle; see ters- in Indo-European roots.]