Dictionary

foramen en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /fəˈɹeɪ.mɛn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /fəˈɹeɪ.mən/ (General-American)

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. 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:

Forms

Deriveds

foraminate · foramen magnum · foraminous · stylomastoid foramen · jugular foramen · foramen spinosum · infraorbital foramen · obturator foramen · optic foramen · zygomaticotemporal foramen · foraminal · zygomaticofacial foramen · mental foramen

Relateds

meatus

Translations (11)

ca foramen (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · mk ду́пка (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · ar ثُقْبَة (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · ca forat (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · cs otvor (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · es foramen (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · fr foramen (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · de Foramen (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · ru отве́рстие (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · pl otwór (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone) · mk о́твор (an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone)