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Glite Dictionary
🦴 Wing-shaped bone 💀 A skull bone 💪 A jaw muscle
pterygoid

pterygoid

9.9
A bone in the roof of the mouth of many animals
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛrɪˌɡɔɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hueso pterigoideo
  • The fossil showed a fractured pterygoid that clarified the reptile's palate structure.

Examples

  • Researchers examined the pterygoid to understand the evolution of skull shapes in early vertebrates.

  • In some animals, the pterygoid helps support the roof of the mouth.

  • The pterygoid bone is crucial for jaw movement.

  • The pterygoids support the structure of the skull.

  • The fossil showed a fractured pterygoid that clarified the reptile's palate structure.

  • In some animals, the pterygoid helps support the roof of the mouth.

  • Researchers examined the pterygoid to understand the evolution of skull shapes in early vertebrates.

Compounds

pterygoid plexus
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A network of small veins near the jaw that collects blood from the mouth area

pterygoid muscle
  • Specialized
8.3

A muscle inside the face that helps move the lower jaw when you chew

pterygoid process
  • Specialized
9.9

A bony part inside the skull that sticks down to help form the nose and mouth and hold chewing muscles

Surface Forms

pterygoid singular
pterygoids plural

Morphology

pterygoid = pterygo (opaque) = pterygo + oid

The base is a specialized combining form rather than a common English word, and the sense (an anatomical bone) is technical and not derivable by general learners.

Etymology

Pterygoid is the name of a bone and it comes from the Greek root pteryg- meaning 'wing' and the ending -oid meaning 'like', because the bone is shaped like a wing and helps form the roof of the mouth. You may know the 'ptero' from pterodactyl, a flying dinosaur.