diastema
Americannoun
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diastemata
plural
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Cell Biology. the modified protoplasm at the equator of a cell, existing before mitotic division.
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Dentistry. a space between two teeth, especially a space between a canine and an incisor of the upper jaw into which a lower canine occludes.
noun
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an abnormal space, fissure, or cleft in a bodily organ or part
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a gap between the teeth
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of diastema
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin < Greek: interval, equivalent to diastē, variant stem of diastánai to stand apart + -ma noun suffix denoting the result of action
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.
These days Ms. Hutton is just one in a roster of celebrities and runway stars embracing what is known in orthodontic circles as a midline diastema.
From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2012
The first premolar is not preserved, but its alveolus indicates that it was a single-rooted tooth, placed behind the canine after the intervention of a very short diastema.
From On The Affinities of Leptarctus primus of Leidy American Museum of Natural History, Vol. VI, Article VIII, pp. 229-331. by Jacob Lawson Wortman
There are 12 and 13 maxillary teeth that increase in size posteriorly; these are followed by a short diastema and two larger, solid teeth.
From Systematic Status of the Colubrid Snake, Leptodeira discolor Gunther by William E. Duellman
From B. brachygnathus, B. kolbi differs in: molar row longer; m3 and jaw larger; diastema longer; masseteric ridge not so far forward; molars more depressed.
From Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys by Robert L. Packard
Three specimens lack a diastema and 17 specimens have a diastema.
From Morphological Variation in a Population of the Snake, Tantilla gracilis Baird and Girard by Charles J. Cole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
