1. the first or proximal part of the large intestine, forming a dilated pouch distal to the ileum and proximal to the colon. There is a great deal of variation in the relative size between species. The dog's cecum is a small, coiled organ. In the horse it is a very large fermentation chamber stretching from the upper right flank to the xiphoid process of the sternum. Birds are different again. They have a double cecum which appears to compensate digestively for the absence of a significant colon.
2. any blind pouch. See also cecal.

• c. cupulare — one of the blind ends of the cochlear duct of the inner ear; attached to the cupula of the cochlea.
• c. vestibulare — the other blind end of the cochlear duct of the inner ear; begins in the cochlear recess of the vestibule of the osseous labyrinth.

Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.