Defn: A tubercle projecting from the anterior articular processes of some vertebræ; a mammillary process.
METAPTERYGIUM
Me*tap`te*ryg"i*um, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Anat.)
Defn: The posterior of the three principal basal cartilages in the
fins of fishes.
— Me*tap`ter*yg"i*al, a.
METASILICATE
Met`a*sil"i*cate, n. (Chem.)
Defn: A salt of metasilicic acid.
METASILICIC
Met`a*si*lic"ic, a. Etym: [Pref. meta- + silicic.] (Chem.)
Defn: Designating an acid derived from silicic acid by the removal of water; of or pertaining to such an acid.
Note: The salts of metasilicic acid are often called bisilicates, in mineralogy, as Wollastonite (CaSiO3). Metasilicic acid (Chem.), a gelatinous substance, or white amorphous powder, analogous to carbonic acid, and forming many stable salts.
METASOMATISM
Met`a*so"ma*tism, n. Etym: [Pref. meta- + Gr. (Geol.)
Defn: An alteration in a mineral or rock mass when involving a chemical change of the substance, as of chrysolite to serpentine; — opposed to ordinary metamorphism, as implying simply a recrystallization. — Met`a*so*mat"ic, a.