• A cell that is formed when an osteoblast becomes embedded within the bone matrix that it has secreted. Osteoclasts reside in chambers called lacunae that are found in mature bone.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• An osteocyte is an osteoblast that is embedded in bony tissue and which is relatively inactive; osteocytes occupy a small cavity, called lacuna, in the matrix and are connected to adjacent osteocytes via protoplasmic projections called canaliculi.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006
• A cell that is embedded in fully formed bone.
  Harvard Dictionary of Health Terms
  Harvard Medical Publishing, 2011
• Mature osteoblasts that have become embedded in the BONE MATRIX. They occupy a small cavity, called lacuna, in the matrix and are connected to adjacent osteocytes via protoplasmic projections called canaliculi.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• Osteocyte, a cell that lies within the substance of fully formed bone. It occupies a small chamber called a lacuna, which is contained in the calcified matrix of bone. Osteocytes derive from osteoblasts, or bone-forming cells, and are essentially osteoblasts surrounded by the products they...
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025