What is "segmental"

Segmental \Seg*men"tal\, a.

1. Relating to, or being, a segment.

2. (Anat. & Zo["o]l.)

   1. Of or pertaining to the segments of animals; as, a segmental duct; segmental papill[ae].

   2. Of or pertaining to the segmental organs. Segmental duct (Anat.), the primitive duct of the embryonic excretory organs which gives rise to the Wolffian duct and ureter; the pronephric duct. Segmental organs.

      1. (Anat.) The embryonic excretory organs of vertebrates, consisting primarily of the segmental tubes and segmental ducts.

      2. (Zo["o]l.) The tubular excretory organs, a pair of which often occur in each of several segments in annelids. They serve as renal organs, and often, also, as oviducts and sperm ducts. See Illust. under Sipunculacea.

         Segmental tubes (Anat.), the tubes which primarily open into the segmental duct, some of which become the urinary tubules of the adult.

1816, from segment (n.) + -al (1).

a. of, relating to, or constructed from segments

1. adj. divided or organized into speech segments or isolable speech sounds

2. having the body divided into successive metameres or segments, as in earthworms or lobsters [syn: metameric, segmented]