trigeminal

[trahy-jem-uh-nl]Anatomy

adjective

of or relating to the trigeminal nerve.

noun

Also called trigeminal nerve. either one of the fifth pair of cranial nerves, consisting of motor fibers that innervate the muscles of mastication, and of sensory fibers that conduct impulses from the head and face to the brain.

Nearby words

Origin of trigeminal

1820–30; < New Latin trigemin(us) (Latin: triple, equivalent to tri- tri- + geminus twin, double) + -al¹

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

Examples from the Web for trigeminal

The most common variety of trigeminal neuralgia is migraine, or sick-headache, as it is often called.
Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it|Francis E. Anstie
In Fig. 114, Miss Alcock has drawn the distribution of the trigeminal nerve as traced by her through a series of sections.
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell
The origin of the trigeminal motor fibres in the central nervous system is most striking.
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell
The epimeral purely sensory nerves to the somatic surface, equivalent in the vertebrate to the ascending root of the trigeminal.
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell

This period is above all things fruitful in trigeminal neuralgias, especially migraine.
Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it|Francis E. Anstie

British Dictionary definitions for trigeminal

trigeminal

adjective

anatomy of or relating to the trigeminal nerve

Word Origin for trigeminal

C19: from Latin trigeminus triplet, from tri- + geminus twin

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 trigeminal

trigeminal

adj.

1830, from Latin trigeminus "born in threes;" see tri- + geminate.

Medicine definitions for trigeminal

trigeminal

[trī-jĕm′ə-nəl]

adj.

Of or relating to the trigeminal nerves.