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philtrum

philtrum

1 9.9
A vertical groove between the upper lip and the nose
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪltrəm/
  • Specialized
: filtrum
  • Miss Ponting, you have a clavicle and a philtrum that all men wish to play on, and a vibrato that all men adore, but you're entirely mine, and I'm so very glad and proud.

Examples

  • And my philtrum...

  • Exposure sites were the left or right upper and lower lip from the lateral border of the philtrum to the angle of the lip, and were chosen on the basis of previous recurrence at that site.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Philtrum.

  • "I reached up and pressed my fingertips to his philtrum, which is perfectly formed, like that of a Raphael angel.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The medial processes also merge with each other toward the midline, forming the philtrum.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The philtrum is the small groove located just below the nose and above the upper lip.

  • Many people have a unique shape to their philtrum that varies from person to person.

  • In anatomy classes, students learn about the philtrum's role in facial structure.

Surface Forms

philtrum singular
philtrums plural
philtra plural

Etymology

Philtrum comes from the Greek word philtron, a 'love charm', and the root phil- means 'love', as in philosophy. A helpful way to remember it is that people once thought the small spot under the nose had magic power for love, so the name stuck, and today philtrum simply means the groove between the upper lip and the nose.