pterion

English

Etymology

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

Derived terms

• epipteric
• pterionic

Translations

the point corresponding with the posterior end of the sphenoparietal suture

• Spanish: pterión m

Anagrams

• Petrino, Petroni, Pointer, interop, pointer, protein, repoint, tropein, tropine