Definition of patella

• n. - A small dish, pan, or vase.
• n. - The kneepan; the cap of the knee.
• n. - A genus of marine gastropods, including many species of limpets. The shell has the form of a flattened cone. The common European limpet (Patella vulgata) is largely used for food.
• n. - A kind of apothecium in lichens, which is orbicular, flat, and sessile, and has a special rim not a part of the thallus.