cartilaginous

Definition

Comprising soft cartilage rather than bone.

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.

Example Sentences

• "Cartilaginous fish such as the angler fish have a skeletal structure made up of cartilage."
• "[T]here are other Bodies beſides Shells found in the Earth, reſembling the Teeth and Bones of ſome Fiſhes, […] the Vertebres of Thornbacks and other Cartilagineous Fiſhes there found, and ſold for Stones among the Gloſſopetræ, […]"