elytrocele

[Gr. elytron = a sheath (ELYTRON], and kēlē =a tumor.] Med.: A tumor in the vagina, vaginal hernia. ě-ly-troid, a. [Gr. elytron =a sheath, and eidos =form.] Anat.: Sheath-like, resembling a sheath. ě-lý-tròn, ě-lý-trum ( pl . e-ly-tra), s. [Greek elytron a cover, a covering, the sheath of a beetle's wing; elyō =to roll round.J Entomology : 1. ( Generally pl.): The horny sheaths which constitute the anterior wings of the order Coleoptera (Beetles). They afford a protection to the posterior er membranous pair folded up beneath them when the insect is at rest. Hence they are sometimes called wing-covers or wing-cases. In most cases the elytra cover the abdomen above, but in the Brach elytra they are too short to do this. When elytra are hard and opaque at their base, but mem branous at their extremities, they are called heme lytra. ( Owen , .) 2. The scales or plates on the back of Aphrodite. the Sea-mouse, an annelid. ( Nicholson . )