Standard Lemma guide

cartilaginous

adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌkɑː.tɪˈlad͡ʒ.ɪn.əs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌkɑɹ.təˈlæd͡ʒ.ən.əs/

1

adj

Meaning 1

Comprising soft cartilage rather than bone.

Related to or resembling cartilage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Comprising soft cartilage rather than bone.

Having a skeleton of cartilage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: anatomy, biology, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences, zoology

Examples

  • Cartilaginous fish such as the angler fish have a skeletal structure made up of cartilage.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Having a tough or fibrous texture, usually in reference to a mushroom stipe.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, mycology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

of or relating to cartilage

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

difficult to chew

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gristly, rubbery

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cartilāginōsus (“full of cartilage, very gristly”), from cartilāgō (“cartilage, gristle”) + -ōsus (“-ous, -ose”); compare French cartilagineux. Equivalent to cartilage + -ous, with modifications made to its morphology.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: cartilaginós — comprising cartilage
  • Chinese Mandarin: 软骨的 — comprising cartilage
  • Czech: chrupavčitý — comprising cartilage
  • Esperanto: kartilaga — comprising cartilage
  • Finnish: rustoinen — comprising cartilage
  • French: cartilagineux — comprising cartilage
  • Galician: cartilaxinoso — comprising cartilage
  • German: knorpelig — comprising cartilage
  • Greek: χονδρικός (chondrikós) — comprising cartilage
  • Hungarian: porcos — comprising cartilage
  • Italian: cartilaginoso — comprising cartilage
  • Navajo: ooshgę́ęzhii — comprising cartilage
  • Old English: gristlen — comprising cartilage
  • Polish: chrząstkowy — comprising cartilage
  • Polish: chrzęstny — comprising cartilage
  • Romanian: cartilaginos — comprising cartilage
  • Spanish: cartilaginoso — comprising cartilage
  • Turkish: kıkırdaklı — comprising cartilage
  • Turkish: kıkırdaksı — comprising cartilage
  • Catalan: cartilaginós — resembling cartilage
  • Finnish: rustomainen — resembling cartilage
  • French: cartilagineux — resembling cartilage
  • Polish: chrząstkowy — resembling cartilage
  • Romanian: cartilaginos — resembling cartilage
  • Spanish: cartilaginoso — resembling cartilage
  • Turkish: kıkırdaksı — resembling cartilage
  • Turkish: kıkırdağımsı — resembling cartilage
  • Finnish: rusto- — zoology: having skeleton of cartilage
  • Finnish: see e.g. rustokala — zoology: having skeleton of cartilage
  • Polish: chrzęstnoszkieletowy — zoology: having skeleton of cartilage
  • Turkish: kıkırdaklı — zoology: having skeleton of cartilage
  • Finnish: rustoinen — mycology: having tough or fibrous texture
  • Polish: chrząstkowy — mycology: having tough or fibrous texture