A median organ developing from the roofplate of the diencephalon in certain lower vertebrates. Present in the human embryo and fetus for a short time. SYN: paraphysial body. [G. an offshoot]
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1) one of the slender sterile often septate filaments of many cryptogamic plants (as fungi) that are borne among the spore- or gamete-forming organs, are single or branched, and are composed of one or more cells
2) a median evagination of the roof of the telencephalon anterior to the epiphysis of certain lower vertebrates that is present only in the embryo of higher vertebrates
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pa·raph·y·sis (pə-rafґĭ-sis) [Gr. “offshootâ€] 1. a thin-walled derivative of the roof plate of the telencephalon, present only temporarily in the human embryo and fetus; called also paraphysial body. 2. a sterile thread alongside the spore sac or sexual organs in the hymenial layer of some fungi, especially ascomycetes; also found in mosses and ferns.Medical dictionary. 2011.