cerumen

American

[si-roo-muhn] / sɪˈru mən /

noun

earwax.

cerumen British

/ sɪˈruːmɛn /

noun

Nontechnical name: earwax. the soft brownish-yellow wax secreted by glands in the auditory canal of the external ear

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

ceruminous

adjective

Etymology

Origin of cerumen

1735–45; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin cēr ( a ) wax + ( alb ) umen albumen

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Cerumen type has been used by anthropologists to track human migratory patterns, such as those of the Inuit.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

Cerumen, se-rū′men, n. the yellow waxy matter secreted in the ear.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023