the.com/small intestine
Longer than you are tall, smaller only in diameter, doing all the real digesting.
means The long, narrow tube between stomach and large intestine where most digestion and nutrient absorption actually happens.
from The name is purely descriptive, not ancient or storied — 'small' refers only to its narrower diameter compared to the large intestine, not its length, which is actually far greater. 'Intestine' traces back to Latin 'intestinus,' meaning 'internal' or 'inward,' from 'intus' ('within'). So the phrase is really just anatomical shorthand: the internal tube that happens to be the thin one.
- actual length
- about 22 feet uncoiled in adults
- surface area
- villi give it roughly a tennis court's worth
- nutrient absorption
- handles over 90 percent of it
- name logic
- small refers to width, not length