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Glite Dictionary
faucial tonsil

faucial tonsil

9.3
A small soft part at the back of the mouth on each side that helps fight infection
  • noun
  • /ˈfɔːʃəl ˈtɒnsəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : amígdala palatina
  • Swelling of the faucial tonsil can cause a sore throat and difficulty swallowing.

Examples

  • The doctor examined my faucial tonsils during the check-up.

  • She had her faucial tonsils removed last year.

  • Surgery to remove a faucial tonsil is known as a tonsillectomy.

  • The doctor examined her faucial tonsil for signs of infection.

  • Swelling of the faucial tonsil can cause a sore throat and difficulty swallowing.

  • The doctor examined her faucial tonsil for signs of infection.

  • Surgery to remove a faucial tonsil is known as a tonsillectomy.

Synonyms

tonsil
vsfaucial tonsil
38 3.0

A small part at the back of the mouth on each side that helps fight infection

is the specific term for those same tissues located in the oral pharynx
palatine tonsil
vsfaucial tonsil
  • Specialized
5.6

A small soft piece of body tissue at the back of the throat that helps fight infection

has identical meaning but uses an alternative anatomical name

Surface Forms

faucial tonsil singular
faucial tonsils plural

Morphology

faucial + tonsil

The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'faucial' relates to the fauces/pharyngeal region and 'tonsil' is the tissue mass, so together they denote the tonsils located in the faucial (palatine) area. Although 'faucial' is a rare, technical adjective that most B1 learners would not know, if a learner does know both constituent meanings the compound meaning is directly derivable from them.

Etymology

Faucial tonsil comes from old words: faucial means 'throat' and tonsil means 'almond'. Because these small, soft parts sit on each side at the back of the mouth like little almonds, the name now refers to the tonsils people have on the sides of their throat.