rete mirabile
noun
rete mi·rab·i·le
-mə̇ˈrabəˌlē
plural retia mirabilia
-ˌmirəˈbilēə
: a small but dense network of blood vessels formed by the breaking up of a larger vessel into branches that usually reunite into one trunk and believed especially important as an oxygen-storing mechanism in aquatic mammals
Word History
Etymology
New Latin, from Latin, wonderful net