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trigeminal

American

[trahy-jem-uh-nl] / traɪˈdʒɛm ə nl /

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.

trigeminal British

/ traɪˈdʒɛmɪnəl /

adjective

anatomy of or relating to the trigeminal nerve

"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

Etymology

Origin of trigeminal

1820–30; < New Latin trigemin ( us ) ( Latin: triple, equivalent to tri- tri- + geminus twin, double) + -al ¹

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.

One was the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensory information from the skin and surface of the head.

From Science Daily • Dec. 18, 2025

She said that she was also diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia earlier in the year.

From BBC • Jul. 15, 2025

She was battling the chronic pain disorder trigeminal neuralgia.

From New York Times • Mar. 19, 2024

Before kicking “Boast Rattle” off, Ayers pauses to set a complimentary mood: “I’m gonna get into the Boasting spirit and talk to you guys about a brain disease I have called trigeminal neuralgia,” he begins.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2023

Secretion is often very notably affected in neuralgia; the phenomena are necessarily more easily observed in connection with affections of the trigeminal than of other nerves.

From Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Anstie, Francis E.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023