PTERYGOID

Etymology

Adjective

pterygoid (comparative more pterygoid, superlative most pterygoid)

Resembling a wing.

(anatomy) Of or pertaining to the sphenoid bone.

Noun

pterygoid (plural pterygoids)

(anatomy) A bone which corresponds to the inner plate of the pterygoid process of the human skull, but which, in all vertebrates below mammals, is not connected with the posterior nares, but serves to connect the palatine bones with the point of suspension of the lower jaw.

Source: Wiktionary

Pter"y*goid, a. Etym: [Gr. -oid.] (Anat.) (a) Like a bird's wing in form; as, a pterygoid bone. (b) Of, pertaining to, or in the region of, the pterygoid bones, pterygoid processes, or the whole sphenoid bone.

– n.

Definition: A pterygoid bone. Pterygoid bone (Anat.), a bone which corresponds to the inner plate of the pterygoid process of the human skull, but which, in all vertebrates below mammals, is not connected with the posterior nares, but serves to connect the palatine bones with the point of suspension of the lower jaw.

– Pterygoid process (Anat.), a process projecting downward from either side of the sphenoid bone, in man divided into two plates, an inner and an outer. The posterior nares pass through the space, called the pterygoid fossa, between the processes.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition