commissure

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UK/ˈkɒm.ɪs.jʊə/US/ˈkɑm.əˌʃʊɹ/

noun

The joint between two bones.

RareScrabble 16

Meanings

nouncommissure (plural commissures)

plural commissures

  1. anatomyThe joint between two bones.

    ...that round about the commissure of all our joints...

    1734, William Stukeley, Of the Gout, J. Roberts, page 14
  2. anatomyA band of nerve tissue connecting the hemispheres of the brain, the two sides of the spinal cord, etc.
  3. anatomyThe line where the upper and lower lips or eyelids meet.
    1 more example

    There is a third inner eyelid, highly developed and of beautiful mechanism: this is the nictitating membrane, or "winker" (nictito, I wink), a delicate, elastic, translucent, pearly-white fold of the conjunctiva. While the other lids move vertically and have a horizontal commissure, the winker sweeps horizontally or obliquely across the ball, from the side next the beak to the opposite.

    1884, Elliott Coues, “§ 4.—An Introduction to the Anatomy of Birds.”, in Key to North American Birds. […], 2nd edition, Boston, Mass.: Estes and Lauriat, →OCLC, part II (General Ornithology), page 180

Origin

  1. Latincommissura“a joining or connecting together”
  2. Englishcommissure

From Latin commissura (“a joining or connecting together”), from commissus (passive perfect participle of committo (“to join, to connect”)) + -ura.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto lipangulo, buŝangulo
  • lipangulopoint where the upper and lower lips or eyelids join
  • buŝangulopoint where the upper and lower lips or eyelids join
French commissure
  • commissurepoint where the upper and lower lips or eyelids join
Portuguese comissura
  • comissurapoint where the upper and lower lips or eyelids join
Spanish comisura
  • comisurapoint where the upper and lower lips or eyelids join
Cite this entry
APA

commissure. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commissure

MLA

“commissure.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commissure. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “commissure,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commissure.

Source: commissure on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.