🦴 Relating to skull bone 🦴 A skull bone

petrosal

9.9

Relating to the hard inner part of the skull near the ear

adjective
/ˈpɛtrəsəl/

Specialized

: petroso

The surgeon noted the petrosal part of the temporal bone while planning the procedure.

Examples

During the dissection, they examined the petrosal region of the skull closely.
A branch from the geniculate ganglion near the greater superficial petrosal nerve, which developed earlier, is reduced to a communication as the tympanic plexus and the lesser petrosal nerve develop from the IXth cranial nerve.

Academic text (2003)
A branch from the geniculate ganglion near the greater superficial petrosal nerve, which developed earlier, is reduced to a communication as the tympanic plexus and the lesser petrosal nerve develop from the IXth cranial nerve.

Academic text (2003)
The petrosal bone is crucial for protecting the inner ear from injury.

Synonyms

petrous

vspetrosal

Specialized

1 9.9

A very hard, thick part of bone that feels like stone

refers to a specific region of the temporal bone rather than describing hardness

Surface Forms

petrosal positive

Morphology

petrosal = petrous (opaque) = petrous + al

The formation is a specialized anatomical/adapted form (petrous → petrosal) using a technical combining form; the relation is not obvious to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Petrosal comes from the Greek petros meaning 'rock', the same root in petroleum ('rock oil'), so you can think of the petrosal area as the hard, rock-like part of the skull. That's why petrosal describes the part of the temporal bone that protects the inner ear.