maxilla

American  

[mak-sil-uh] / mækˈsɪl ə /

noun

• maxillae
  plural

1. a jaw or jawbone, especially the upper.

2. one of the paired appendages immediately behind the mandibles of arthropods.

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maxilla British  

/ mækˈsɪlə, mækˈsɪlə /

noun

1. the upper jawbone in vertebrates See jaw

2. any member of one or two pairs of mouthparts in insects and other arthropods used as accessory jaws

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maxilla Scientific  

/ măk-sĭl′ə /

• maxillae
  plural

1. The upper part of the jaw in vertebrate animals.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• maxillar
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• maxillae
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of maxilla

1670–80; < New Latin, special use of Latin maxilla lower jaw, diminutive of māla (< *maxlā ) upper jaw, cheekbone

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

maxilla maxillae

“The injuries I suffered led to a long and difficult recovery that I am still trying to recover from, including treatment for a severe traumatic brain injury, a shattered maxilla and a bone graft procedure.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

The Maori and Moriori skeletal remains, including skulls without mandibles, craniums, loose mandibles and maxilla fragments, were largely collected by Austrian taxidermist and grave robber Andreas Reischek from 1877 to 1889.

From Reuters ● Oct. 2, 2022

The skeletal remains, which include skulls without mandibles, craniums, loose mandibles and maxilla fragments, were handed over in an official ceremony in Vienna on Tuesday, where there was a panel and presentation.

From Reuters ● Sep. 29, 2022

By contrast, we see the upper jaw — the maxilla — as a fixed part of the skull that simply holds the upper teeth.

From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2020

It arises from the temporal fossa, and is inserted into the coronoid process of the inferior maxilla.

From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by ?douard Cuyer

A few inches away sits a skull the size of a watermelon, thick ivory fangs jutting from its bleached maxillae.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Skull: Smaller, but relatively wider; zygomatic processes of maxillae heavier; region of maxillo-jugal sutures thicker; jugals more concave laterally; tympanic bullae more inflated ventrally; molariform teeth larger.

From The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah, Vol. 1 No. 1 Kansas University Publications. by Stephen D. Durrant

K. U. 69397, P. maniculatus, old: The maxillae have eroded away from around the anterior roots of each first upper molar, leaving these roots unsupported.

From Comparative Ecology of Pinyon Mice and Deer Mice in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado by Charles L. Douglas

Skull: Broader, more angular and more nearly flat; zygomatic arches more widely spreading; zygomatic processes of maxillae heavier; posterior ends of nasals emarginate rather than rounded; upper incisors longer.

From The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah, Vol. 1 No. 1 Kansas University Publications. by Stephen D. Durrant

Eugereon is a remarkable Permian fossil, with jaws that are typically hemipterous except that the second maxillae are not fused and with cockroach-like wings.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

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Related Words

• bone
• mouth

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