buccal

From Latin bucca (“the cheek”) +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʌkəl/, [ˈbʌkɫ̩]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: buckle
• Rhymes: -ʌkəl

buccal (not comparable)

1. (anatomy, dentistry, relational) Of, relating to, near, involving, or supplying the cheek.

   Synonyms: (of a tooth) facial, genal

   buccal surface of the molars

   buccal branch of the facial nerve

   • 2015 August 19, Mansur Rahnama et al., “Analysis of the Influence of Hormone Replacement Therapy on Osteocalcin Gene Expression in Postmenopausal Women”, in BioMed Research International‎^[1], volume 2015, →DOI:

     Obtained buccal epithelium and newly drawn, uncentrifuged blood collected in an EDTA tube were used for analysis of gene expression: a control GAPDH gene and Osteocalcin gene.

2. Of, relating to, or lying in the mouth.

   buccal cavity

3. (pharmacology) Administered in the mouth, not by swallowing but by absorption through the skin of the cheek; often by placing between the top gum and the inside of the lip.
4. (linguistics) supralaryngeal, not laryngeal or glottal.

• “buccal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “buccal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Learned word formed from the root of Latin bucca (whence French bouche) with the suffix -al.

• IPA^(key): /by.kal/

• Audio:

  (file)

buccal (feminine buccale, masculine plural buccaux, feminine plural buccales)

1. buccal (of, relating to, or lying in the mouth)

• oral

• “buccal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.