1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Anastomosis

ANASTOMOSIS (a Greek word in which the second o is long, from ἀναστομοῦν, to furnish with a mouth or outlet), the intercommunication between two vessels; a word used in vegetable and animal anatomy for the communication between channels (arteries and veins) containing fluid, and also for the crossing between the veins or branches of leaves, trees, insect-wings or river-connexions, and by analogy in art-design.