What is "acinus"

Acinus \Ac"i*nus\ ([a^]s"[i^]*n[u^]s), n.; pl. Acini. [L., grape, grapestone.]

1. (Bot.)

   1. One of the small grains or drupelets which make up some kinds of fruit, as the blackberry, raspberry, etc.

   2. A grapestone.

2. (Anat.) One of the granular masses which constitute a racemose or compound gland, as the pancreas; also, one of the saccular recesses in the lobules of a racemose gland.
   --Quain. [1913 Webster] ||

n. 1 (context botany English) One of the small grains or drupelets which make up some kinds of fruit, as the blackberry, raspberry, etc. 2 (context botany English) A grape-stone. 3 (context anatomy English) One of the granular masses which constitute a racemose or compound gland, as the pancreas; also, one of the saccular recesses in the lobules of a racemose gland.

1. n. one of the small drupes making up an aggregate or multiple fruit like a blackberry

2. one of the small sacs or saclike dilations in a compound gland

3. [also: acini (pl)]

An acinus (plural, acini; adjective, acinar [] or acinous) refers to any cluster of cells that resembles a many-lobed " berry", such as a raspberry (acinus is Latin for "berry"). The berry-shaped termination of an exocrine gland, where the secretion is produced, is acinar in form, as is the alveolar sac containing multiple alveoli in the lungs.