pterion
English
Etymology
From French ptérion, from ptère (“wing of the sphenoid bone”) + -ion, from Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “wing”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtɛɹɪən/
Noun
pterion (plural pterions or pteria)
- (anatomy) The point corresponding with the posterior end of the sphenoparietal suture; known as the weakest part of the skull.
- 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 349:
- Then standing before a closet mirror, he put the automatic to his head, at the point of the pterion, and pressed the comfortably concaved trigger.
Derived terms
Translations
the point corresponding with the posterior end of the sphenoparietal suture