fontanel

or fon·ta·nelle

[fon-tn-el]

noun Anatomy.

one of the spaces, covered by membrane, between the bones of the fetal or young skull.

Origin of fontanel

1375–1425; late Middle English fontinel < Middle French fontanele little spring, diminutive of fontaine fountain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fontanelle

Historical Examples of fontanelle

The basicranial axis is straight, and the fontanelle in the lachrymal region is very large.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia
Frank Evers Beddard
Fontanelle, fon-ta-nel′, n. a gap between the bones of the skull of a young animal: an opening for the discharge of pus.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various
Firschein used the presence of the fontanelle to distinguish guttilatus from his petrophilus.
A Taxonomic Revision of the Leptodactylid Frog Genus Syrrhophus Cope
John D. Lynch
A keyhole-shaped frontoparietal fontanelle is present; the fontanelle is narrow anteriorly and wide posteriorly.
The Systematics of the Frogs of the Hyla Rubra Group in Middle America
Juan R. Len
Furthermore, the fontanelle in question may alter its characteristic appearance in certain forms of sickness.
Pedagogical Anthropology
Maria Montessori

British Dictionary definitions for fontanelle

fontanelle

mainly US fontanel

noun

anatomy any of several soft membranous gaps between the bones of the skull in a fetus or infant

Word Origin for fontanelle

C16 (in the sense: hollow between muscles): from Old French fontanele, literally: a little spring, from fontaine fountain

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

Word Origin and History for fontanelle

also fontanel, 1540s, "hollow between two muscles," from French fontanelle (16c.), from Old French fontenele "small source, fountain, spring; fontanelle," diminutive of fontaine "spring" (see fountain), on analogy of the dent in the earth where a spring arises. In reference to the "hollow" in a baby's skull, it is first recorded 1741.

fontanelle in Medicine

fontanel

n.

Any of the soft membranous gaps between the incompletely formed cranial bones of a fetus or infant.soft spot