frenum
Americannoun
-
frena
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of frenum
First recorded in 1655–65; New Latin, from Latin fraenum, frēnum “bridle, restraint,” of disputed origin
Compare meaning
How does frenum compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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:
If my mother was not lying she should have cut more, scraped away the rest of the frenum skin, because I have a terrible time talking.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
![]()
I used to curl up my tongue in front of the mirror and tauten my frenum into a white line, itself as thin as a razor blade.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
![]()
Aetius, the first prominent Christian physician of whom we have any record, divided the frenum of the tongue.
From Psychotherapy by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh
On each side of the frenum, under the mucous membrane of the tip, are mucous glands—apical glands—in which cysts sometimes form.
From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles
It usually lies on one side of the frenum, and over it the mucous membrane moves freely.
From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles
The only food on hand for injured survivors was yogurt and sweet biscuits known locally as frena.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
The only instances I have found that are not from Ovid's didactic verse are the present passage and xii 23-24 'tu bonus hortator, tu duxque comesque fuisti, / cum regerem tenera frena nouella manu'.
From The Last Poems of Ovid by Mark Bear Akrigg
These cirripedes have no branchiae, the whole surface of the body and of the sack, together with the small frena, serving for respiration.
From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin
The ovigerous frena of certain cirripedes, which have ceased to give attachment to the ova and are feebly developed, are nascent branchiae.
From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin
At Tr V iv 15-16 Ovid had used frena recusare of a horse: 'fert tamen, ut debet, casus patienter amaros, / more nec indomiti frena recusat equi'.
From The Last Poems of Ovid by Mark Bear Akrigg
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.