pterion

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From French ptérion, from ptère (“wing of the sphenoid bone”), from Ancient Greek πτερόν (pteron, “wing”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈtɛɹɪən/

Noun

pterion (plural pterions)

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 2011, p. 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

• epipteric

Anagrams

• interop, pointer, protein, repoint, tropein, tropine