Etymology

cranium

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Today it means: That part of the skull consisting of the bones enclosing the brain, but not including the bones of the face or jaw. Full definition →

Medieval Latin crānium ← Ancient Greek κρᾱνίον
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκρᾱνίον“skull”
  2. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromcrānium“skull”
  3. English todaycranium

From Medieval Latin crānium (“skull”), from Ancient Greek κρᾱνίον (krāníon, “skull”). By surface analysis, crani- + -um.

Words from the same roots

Medieval Latincrānium all →

cranecranio-

Ancient Greekκρᾱνίον all →

opisthocranion

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.