Word of the Day for Thursday, December 13, 2012

plication \plahy-KEY-shuhn\,
noun:
1. The act or procedure of folding.
2. The state or quality of being folded; a fold.
3. Surgery. A. The folding in and suturing of tucks, so as to tighten weakened or stretched tissue. B. The folding of an organ, as a section of the intestine, and the attaching of it to another organ or tissue.

The distribution of sediment by the polar currents, and the lines of plication and upheaval of the crust, as well as the distribution of successive floras, prove that the poles have remained since the Laurentian period where they now are.
-- W.C. and F.P. Church, "The Galaxy"

For the purpose of this text the term plication will be used in reference to grasping the SMAS [Superficial Muscular Aponeurotic System, in the face] and folding it over on itself by means of a suture.
-- Michael S. Kaminer, Kenneth A. Arndt, Jeffrey S. Dover, "Atlas of Cosmetic Surgery"

Plication is derived from the Medieval Latin stem plicātiō, relating to a 'fold' or 'pleat.'

Dictionary.com Word of the Day