orifice

[awr-uh-fis, or-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR orifice ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an opening or aperture, as of a tube or pipe; a mouthlike opening or hole; mouth; vent.

Origin of orifice

1535–45; < Middle French < Late Latin ōrificium, equivalent to Latin ōr- (stem of ōs) mouth + -i- -i- + -fic-, combining form of facere to make, do¹ (see -fic) + -ium noun suffix

Related formsor·i·fi·cial

[awr-uh-fish-uh l, or-] /ˌɔr əˈfɪʃ əl, ˌɒr-/, adjective

Can be confusedoffice orifice

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for orifice

vent, cavity, spout, window, slit, mouth, outlet, crack, aperture, hole

Examples from the Web for orifice

Contemporary Examples of orifice

They can corrode through whatever human tissue they contact if swallowed or stuck into an orifice, sometimes in a matter of hours.
Kids Eat the Darndest Things: Laundry Pods, Teething Necklaces, and More Of The Weirdest Stuff Sending Kids to the E.R.
Russell Saunders
November 14, 2014
You can read about the film's various sex scenes and orifice exploration right here.
The Best of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival: ‘Frank,’ ‘Web Junkie,’ Anna Kendrick, and More
Marlow Stern
January 26, 2014
Fasting in Islam means not putting anything in any orifice of the body.
First Friday of Ramadan For Palestinians
Maysoon Zayid
July 12, 2013

Historical Examples of orifice

One may take a sheep's bladder into the orifice of which a tube is fastened.
Old-Time Makers of Medicine
James J. Walsh
There had been only a superficial examination by Tomlinson of the orifice of the wound.
The Strange Case of Mortimer Fenley
Louis Tracy
A jet of soapsuds plays on each drill from an orifice 1/32 in.
Mechanical Drawing Self-Taught
Joshua Rose
It was not difficult then to stop up the orifice with a little fat.
Three Boys in the Wild North Land
Egerton Ryerson Young
He examined the edge of the orifice where the rock rested upon it.
The Lone Ranche
Captain Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for orifice

orifice

noun

mainly Technical an opening or mouth into a cavity; vent; aperture

Word Origin for orifice

C16: via French from Late Latin ōrificium, from Latin ōs mouth + facere to make

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for orifice

early 15c., from Middle French orifice "the opening of a wound" (14c.) and directly from Latin orificium "an opening," literally "mouth-making," from os (genitive oris) "mouth" (see oral) + facere "make" (see factitious). Related: Orificial.

orifice in Medicine

orifice

[ôr′ə-fĭs]

n.

An opening, especially to a cavity or passage of the body; a mouth or vent.

Related formsor′i•fi′cial (-fĭsh′əl) adj.