Recent Examples on the WebThe smallest bones are inside your ear, and they are known as the hammer (malleus), stirrup (stapes), and anvil (incus). Jason Bittel, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2019 The auditory ossicles of the middle ear – the malleus, incus and stapes – are the tiniest bones in the human body. Emily Matchar, Smithsonian, 18 Dec. 2017
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from New Latin incūd-, incūs, going back to Latin, "anvil," from in-in- entry 2 + -cūd-, -cūs, root noun from the stem of cūdere "to beat, strike, hammer" — more at hew
Note: The Latin name incūs "anvil" was first applied to the bone from its resemblance to an anvil by Andreas vesalius, in De humanis corporis fabrica libri septem (Basil, 1543), pp. 34-35; for details see C.D. O'Malley and Edwin Clarke, "The discovery of auditory ossicles," Bulletin of the History of Medicine, vol. 35, no. 5 (September-October, 1961), pp. 419-41. Regarding the semantic structure of the compound incūs, see note at anvil.