foramen meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

foramen

noun

UK /fəˈɹeɪ.mɛn/ · US /fəˈɹeɪ.mən/

Etymology Borrowed from Latin forāmen (“aperture or opening produced by boring”), from forō (“to pierce or bore”) + -men (nominal suffix).

Anatomy, Medicine, Sciences An opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone.

The skull contains a number of foramina through which arteries, veins, nerves, and other structures enter and exit.
There is — as I have explained — a slight want of alignment in the cervical vertebrae which has, as I perceive it, the effect of lessening the foramina through which the nerve roots emerge.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

Derived terms: foramen magnum, foramen spinosum, foraminal, foraminate, foraminous, infraorbital foramen, jugular foramen, mental foramen, obturator foramen, optic foramen, stylomastoid foramen, zygomaticofacial foramen, zygomaticotemporal foramen
Related terms: meatus