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)

  1. (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.

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