frenulum

See also: Frenulum

English

Alternative forms

• fraenulum, frænulum (hypercorrect, nonstandard)

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin frēnulum, diminutive of frēnum (“a bridle, curb, bit”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfriː.njʊl.əm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfrɛn.jəl.əm/

Noun

frenulum (plural frenula or frenulums)

1. (anatomy) A small fold or ridge of tissue that supports or restrains the motion of the part to which it is attached, in particular a fold of skin beneath the tongue, or between the lip and the gum.

   Synonym: frenum

   Humans have three oral frenulums: beneath the tongue, between the upper lip and gum, and between the lower lip and gum.

2. (entomology, zootomy) A bristle or row of bristles on the edge of the hindwings of some lepidoptera which unites the wings by interlocking with a catch on the posterior part of the forewings.

Derived terms

• frenular
• frenulate

Translations

small fold of tissue

• Catalan: fre (ca) m, tel de la llengua m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 繫帶／系带 (zh) (jìdài)

• Dutch: tongriem (nl) (beneath the tongue)
• Esperanto: frenulo
• Finnish: frenulum (fi), kiinnityspoimu; kielijänne (tongue)
• French: frein (fr) m, filet (fr) m (beneath the tongue)
• Galician: freo (gl) m
• German: Frenulum n, some of them are also called Bändchen (de) n, most of them have specific compounds
• Greek: χαλινός (el) m (chalinós)
• Icelandic: haft n
• Inuktitut: ᕿᓪᓗᑕᖅ (qillotaq)
• Italian: frenulo (it) m
• Japanese: 小帯 (しょうたい, shōtai)
• Korean: 소대(小帶) (ko) (sodae)
• Polish: wędzidełko n
• Portuguese: freio (pt) m, frénulo m
• Russian: узде́чка (ru) f (uzdéčka)
• Spanish: frenillo (es) m
• Swedish: frenulum (sv) (medical), penissträng c, ollonsträng c (slang)
• Walloon: filé del linwe (wa) m (beneath the tongue)
• Welsh: ffrwynig (cy) f, ffrwynyn m

References

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

Latin

Alternative forms

• fraenulum

Etymology

From frēnum (“a bridle, curb, bit”) +‎ -ulum (diminutive nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfre.nu.lum/, [ˈfrɛːnulum]

Noun

frēnulum n (genitive frēnulī); second declension (New Latin)

1. diminutive of frēnum.

Inflection

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	frēnulum	frēnula
Genitive	frēnulī	frēnulōrum
Dative	frēnulō	frēnulīs
Accusative	frēnulum	frēnula
Ablative	frēnulō	frēnulīs
Vocative	frēnulum	frēnula

Descendants

• → English: frenulum