cranium

American  

[krey-nee-uhm] / ˈkreɪ ni əm /

noun

• craniums,
  plural
• crania
  plural

1. the skull of a vertebrate.

2. the part of the skull that encloses the brain.

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cranium British  

/ ˈkreɪnɪəm /

noun

1. the skull of a vertebrate

2. Nontechnical name: brainpan.  the part of the skull that encloses the brain

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cranium Scientific  

/ krā′nē-əm /

• craniums
  plural

1. The vertebrate skull, especially the part that encloses and protects the brain.

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cranium Cultural  

1. The part of the skull that encloses the brain.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• crania
  plural
• craniums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cranium

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English craneum, from Medieval Latin crānium, from Greek krāníon “skull”; akin to kerato-, cerebrum, cornu, horn

Explanation

Your cranium is your skull, the hard bone of your head that protects your brain from injury. Take care of your cranium; it's your built-in helmet! The skull is composed of two primary parts: the cranium, which houses the brain, and the mandible, or jawbone. While the cranium acts as a protective "braincase," it also provides the structural foundation for the facial skeleton. In some animals, the cranium is reinforced so that defensive features, such as horns or antlers, can be anchored directly to the bone. The word comes from the Greek kranion, "upper part of the head," from the root word kara, "head."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cranium crania craniums

The bumps and contours of the cranium were once believed to reflect the intellectual power and moral strength of the mind inside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

The university removed that cranium from the reburial so it can be assessed for return through NAGPRA.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2024

If the device works as expected, it will answer longstanding questions about the impacts of microgravity inside the cranium.

From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2023

Instead of examining the fish's scale, "you extract what are called the otoliths, or earstones, from inside the cranium of the fish, and then thin section the stones to determine their age," said Lackmann.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2023

He was camped in my cranium, hunched over, bald and squinting, trying to read, trying to please, trying to keep his son alive and the wolves away.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

Even if all the crania are identified and returned to the community, the university has a long way to go.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2024

On 3 February, the museum plans to lay the crania of 19 of the Black Philadelphians in the collection to rest in a historically Black cemetery.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 23, 2024

To construct the feeding behaviours and determine the relation between the mandible and trunk, the team examined the crania and lower jaws of the three groups, sourced from three different museums.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 2023

“The placement and treatment of the crania are distinctly different from the burial tradition” in the hunter-gatherer graves located 330 feet to the north, Kjellström said.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 7, 2018

The relative lack of variability in the crania of ater may result from uniform environmental conditions, which have served to select for uniform characters in the populations.

From Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys by Robert L. Packard

Humans evolved wisdom teeth to better grind down hard foods like raw plants, tough meats and nuts, but as our diets became softer and our brains bigger, our species developed larger craniums and smaller jaws.

From Salon ● May 7, 2024

The museum plans to repatriate hundreds of craniums from all over the world, but the process has been fraught from the beginning.

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2024

The vividly hued mixed-media craniums are grown-up 3D cartoons that suggest the visages of superheroes or supervillains.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023

The skeletal remains, which include skulls without mandibles, craniums, loose mandibles and maxilla fragments, were handed over in an official ceremony in Vienna on Tuesday, where there was a panel and presentation.

From Reuters ● Sep. 29, 2022

Hung along the walls were lances and shields, skins of wild beasts, bleached craniums and twisted horns of large game.

From Sónnica by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez