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fontanel

fontanel

2 9.2
A soft spot on a baby's head where the skull bones do not yet meet
  • noun
  • /ˈfɒntənɛl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fontanela
  • The doctor explained that the baby's fontanel needs to be protected until it hardens.
  • anterior fontanel

Examples

  • "You have to be careful of the soft spot, the fontanel."

    Fiction book (1995)
  • So she still has her anterior fontanel.

  • See, his fontanel was very, very, very, very soft.

  • "His name is the Baron St. Fontanel."

  • Sunken eyes or fontanel, no tears.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Your mama was Deborah Fontanel Owens.

  • Fontanel fucking baby-head fuck?

  • And then he will sever reality and crush existence, like a thumb punctures a fontanel, giving peace to those who've been without for so long.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I bared my chest and nursed Lily with my feet in the stream, sunshine illuminating the fine blond down on her skull, faithful pulse of her fontanel.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Finally, the anterior and posterior fontanels, emphasized by the coiffure, refer to a key Luluwa concept: recovering the capacity for clairvoyance and double perception in order to know the past and the future, the world of the visible and invisible.

    Academic text (1995)

Synonyms

soft spot
vsfontanel
  • Specialized
2 6.1

A soft area on a baby's head where the skull bones have not joined

is the technical term rather than the everyday phrase
fontanelle
vsfontanel
  • Specialized
1 9.6

A soft spot on a baby's head where the skull bones are not yet joined

is the same meaning expressed with a different form
anterior fontanelle
vsfontanel
  • Specialized
8.9

A soft gap at the front of a baby's skull that closes as the bones join

is the general soft skull gap not restricted to one location
sphenoidal fontanel
vsfontanel
  • Specialized
9.9

Soft spot near the temple on a baby's head where several skull bones meet

is the general soft skull gap not the specific side intersection
sphenoid fontanelle
vsfontanel
  • Specialized
9.9

A soft spot on the side of a baby's head where skull bones meet

is the general soft skull gap not the specific side intersection
sphenoid fontanel
vsfontanel
  • Specialized
9.9

The soft spot on the side of a baby's head where several skull bones meet

is the general soft skull gap not the specific side intersection

Compounds

sphenoidal fontanel
  • Specialized
9.9

Soft spot near the temple on a baby's head where several skull bones meet

sphenoid fontanel
  • Specialized
9.9

The soft spot on the side of a baby's head where several skull bones meet

Surface Forms

fontanel singular
fontanels plural

Etymology

The word fontanel comes from the old French fontanelle, meaning 'little fountain', and from Latin fons 'spring'. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine the soft spot on a baby's head showing a tiny pulse or movement like a little spring, which is why the name fits the soft, moving place on the skull.