Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| médula ósea | /medula osea/ (from spelling rules) | feminine |
| meollo | /meˈoʝo/ | masculine |
| tuétano | /ˈtwetano/ | masculine |
| médula | /ˈmedula/ | feminine |
The term for bone marrow changes depending on whether you are discussing biology, cooking or using the word figuratively.
Which one should you use?
Use médula ósea in a medical or scientific context to refer to biological tissue. Use tuétano when referring to bone marrow as a food ingredient in a culinary context. Use meollo when speaking figuratively to mean the "core" or "essence" of a matter, such as in the phrase el meollo del asunto.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some Latin American countries, such as Argentina, mecha is an informal way of referring to bone marrow.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word médula can stand alone to mean marrow or medulla. However, when you are referring strictly to the anatomical marrow found in bones, it is usually accompanied by the adjective ósea.
How do you pronounce it?
/medula osea/
Did you know?
- The culinary term tuétano is believed to have come from an onomatopoeic root tut, mimicking the sound of sucking marrow from a bone.
- Spanish differentiates between the 'learned' borrowing of médula and the 'inherited' evolution of meollo, reflecting how the language separates academic and common vocabulary.
Examples in context
- Las células sanguíneas son producidas en la médula ósea.Blood cells are made in the bone marrow.This sentence is useful for showing how blood cells are produced in the médula.Tatoeba #8888968 by escudo119, translation #9176772 by DJ_Saidez
- El paciente necesita un trasplante de médula ósea.The patient needs a bone marrow transplant.
- La médula ósea produce glóbulos blancos.The bone marrow produces white blood cells.
Example conversation
Elena and Alejandro are discussing a medical report.
- ElenaMira, aquí dice que revisaron la médula ósea.Look, it says here that they checked the bone marrow.
- Alejandro¿Y cuáles fueron los resultados, Elena?And what were the results, Elena?
- ElenaTodo salió normal en la médula ósea.Everything came back normal in the bone marrow.
- AlejandroQué buena noticia, Alejandro está tranquilo ahora.What great news, Alejandro is calm now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bone marrow” translations and entries médula ósea, meollo, tuétano, médula, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries meollo, médula, tuétano, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
