Anat. [a. Gr. ἐνάρθρωσις jointing in, f. ἔναρθρος jointed. Cf. arthrosis.] The jointing of the ball-like head of a bone into a socket; the ball-and-socket joint.
1634. T. Johnson, trans. Parey’s Chirurg., VI. xlii. (1678), 166. Enarthrosis, when the head of a bone is wholly received in the cavity of another.
1741. Monro, Anat. (ed. 3), 249. The superior round Head of this Bone of the Arm is articulated by Enarthrosis, with the Glenoid Cavity of the Scapula.
1816. Kirby & Sp., Entomol. (1828), III. xxxiv. 412. M. Latreille calls the articulation of the head in this genus Apoderus Enarthrosis.
1870. Rolleston, Anim. Life, 33. The special needs of these limbless animals [Ophidia] are met by the ‘ball and socket’ articulation or ‘enarthrosis’ of the procoelian bodies of their vertebrae.
