n. (pl. vertebrae) one of the 33 bones of which the *backbone is composed. Each vertebra typically consists of a body, or centrum, from the back of which arises an arch of bone (the vertebral or neural arch) enclosing a cavity (the vertebral canal, or foramen) through which the spinal cord passes. The vertebral arch bears one spinous process and two transverse processes, providing anchorage for muscles, and four articular processes, with which adjacent vertebrae articulate (see illustration). Individual vertebrae are bound together by ligaments and *intervertebral discs. —vertebral adj.... vertebra
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