fontanelle
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of fontanelle
C16 (in the sense: hollow between muscles): from Old French fontanele , literally: a little spring, from fontaine fountain
Explanation
A fontanelle is the soft spot on a baby's head where the skull bones haven't finished growing and fusing together. Even though the fontanelle seems delicate, it's actually quite sturdy and protective. The fontanelle allows a newborn baby's brain to continue growing, while the skull expands more slowly. It also means the bones of the skull can flex a bit when the baby is born — in other words, it can compress as it's squeezed through the birth canal without damaging the baby's head. As babies grow, the fontanelle begins to close. The Old French root of fontanelle, fontaine, means "hollow in the earth where a spring arises."
Vocabulary lists containing fontanelle
Anything But Typical
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Seraphina
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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.
But after noticing that Molly's fontanelle - the soft spot on the top of her head - was bulging when she was 12 weeks, a doctor in A&E diagnosed a large brain tumour.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2025
America also has a spot softer than a newborn’s fontanelle for shallow nonsense.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2023
The incubator, the tube in our son’s nose, the tender fontanelle of his crown – these were the only things I allowed myself to care about.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 9, 2019
The largest fontanelle is located on the anterior head, at the junction of the frontal and parietal bones.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The holotype is a juvenile female and as is the case in the juveniles of nearly all leptodactylids, a frontoparietal fontanelle is present.
From A Taxonomic Revision of the Leptodactylid Frog Genus Syrrhophus Cope by Lynch, John D.
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.
