frenum

American  

[free-nuhm] / ˈfri nəm /

noun

Anatomy, Zoology.

• frena
  plural

1. a fold of membrane that checks or restrains the motion of a part, such as the fold on the underside of the tongue.

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frenum British  

/ ˈfriːnəm /

noun

1. a variant spelling (esp US) of fraenum

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• frena
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of frenum

First recorded in 1655–65; New Latin, from Latin fraenum, frēnum “bridle, restraint,” of disputed origin

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Compare meaning

How does frenum compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• frenum vs. frenulum

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

frenum frena

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

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

The authors have knowledge of a case in which hemorrhage from the frenum proved fatal.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle

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

Schobinger cites a similar instance, due to loosening of the frenum.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle

The only food on hand for injured survivors was yogurt and sweet biscuits known locally as frena.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

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

In prose, the word is often used of young plants or farm animals; and here frena nouella may well be a metonymy for frena nouellorum equorum.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Mark Bear Akrigg

The Balanidae or sessile cirripedes, on the other hand, have no ovigerous frena, the eggs lying loose at the bottom of the sack, in the well-enclosed shell; but they have large folded branchiae.

From On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection, or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin

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