Monday, July 29, 2013

coaptation

coaptation \koh-ap-TEY-shuhn\, noun:

a joining or adjustment of parts to one another: the coaptation of a broken bone.

...though nothing be declared thereby of the structure and coaptation of the spring, wheels, balance, etc. and the manner how they act on one another so as to make the needle point out the true time of day.
-- Aldous Huxley, Complete Essays, Vol. 4, 1936-1938
Harding approved entirely, and it was decided that the two wounds should be dressed without attempting to close them by immediate coaptation.
-- Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island, 1874

Coaptation stems from the Latin word coaptātiō which meant "a precise joining together."

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