foramen
Americannoun
-
foramina
plural
noun
-
foramina
plural
-
An opening or short passage, especially in the body.
-
◆ The large opening in the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes is called the foramen magnum (măg|||PRIMARY_STRESS|||nəm).
-
◆ The opening in the septum between the right and left atria of the heart, present in the fetus but usually closed soon after birth, is the foramen ovale (ō-văl|||PRIMARY_STRESS|||ē, -vā|||PRIMARY_STRESS|||lē, -vä|||PRIMARY_STRESS|||-).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of foramen
1665–75; < Latin forāmen hole, opening, equivalent to forā ( re ) to bore 2 “pierce” + -men resultative noun suffix
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.
See Examples For:
A patent foramen ovale - or PFO - which is a small hole between the top two chambers of the heart.
From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2025
It had a prominent pineal foramen -- a hole in the top of its head that many lizard species use to sense sunlight and judge the length of daylight hours.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 29, 2023
The shape of the opening at the base of its skull—the foramen magnum—suggested Sahelanthropus balanced its head on top of a vertical neck, similar to upright walkers such as today’s humans.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 24, 2022
Figure 6.15 Diagram of Blood and Nerve Supply to Bone Blood vessels and nerves enter the bone through the nutrient foramen.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
Then pains were felt in the course of the supra-orbital, ocular, nasal, and supra-trochlear branches, and also in the cheek, appearing, there, to radiate from the infra-orbital foramen.
From Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Francis E. Anstie
Lizards and iguanas, however, sport a single row of large holes above their teeth, called foramina, where blood vessels and nerves pass through.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 29, 2023
The sacrospinous and sacrotuberous ligaments contribute to the formation of the greater and lesser sciatic foramina.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
These ventricles are connected to the third ventricle by two openings called the interventricular foramina.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The name of a spinal cord region corresponds to the level at which spinal nerves pass through the intervertebral foramina.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
From the skull of N. Hardwickii it differs in its considerably narrower incisors and smaller and more irregularly laminated molars, and by its long and open anterior palatine foramina.
From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Robert Armitage Sterndale
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.
