Meanings
plural fontanelles · alternative fontanel
- anatomyA soft membraneous spot on the head of a baby due to incomplete fusion of the cranial bones.
- entertainmentA structural component of some woodwind instruments, such as recorders and shawms, resembling a barrel with holes bored into it, designed to protect the keywork and to allow the sound to project.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounany membranous gap between the bones of the cranium in an infant or fetus
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfontānus
- Late Latinfontāna
- Old Frenchfontenelle
- Frenchfontanelle
- Englishfontanelle
Borrowed from French fontanelle, from Old French fontenelle, a diminutive of fontaine (“fountain, spring”) + -elle, from Late Latin fontāna, from Latin fontānus, from font- + -ānus. By surface analysis, font + -an + -elle.
More words from French, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic يَأْفُوخ
- يَأْفُوخ (yaʔfūḵ)soft spot on a baby's head
Bulgarian фонтане́ла
- фонтане́ла (fontanéla)soft spot on a baby's head
Catalan fontanel·la
- fontanel·lasoft spot on a baby's head
Chinese Mandarin 囟門 /囟门, 囟腦門兒 /囟脑门儿
- 囟門 /囟门 (xìnmén)soft spot on a baby's head
- 囟腦門兒 /囟脑门儿 (xìnnǎoménr)soft spot on a baby's head
Czech lupínek, fontanela
- lupíneksoft spot on a baby's head
- fontanelasoft spot on a baby's head
Dutch fontanel
- fontanelsoft spot on a baby's head
Finnish aukile
- aukilesoft spot on a baby's head
French fontanelle
- fontanellesoft spot on a baby's head
German Fontanelle
- Fontanellesoft spot on a baby's head
Hebrew מַרְפֵּס
- מַרְפֵּסsoft spot on a baby's head
Hungarian kutacs, feje lágya
- kutacssoft spot on a baby's head
- feje lágyasoft spot on a baby's head
Icelandic hausamót
- hausamótsoft spot on a baby's head
Irish cró an chinn, cró na baithise
- cró an chinnsoft spot on a baby's head
- cró na baithisesoft spot on a baby's head
Italian fontanella
- fontanellasoft spot on a baby's head
Japanese 泉門, 顋門
- 泉門 (senmon)soft spot on a baby's head
- 顋門 (hiyomeki)soft spot on a baby's head
Korean 숨구멍, 정문
- 숨구멍 (sumgumeong)soft spot on a baby's head
- 정문 (jeongmun)soft spot on a baby's head
Malay fontanel, ubun-ubun
- fontanelsoft spot on a baby's head
- ubun-ubunsoft spot on a baby's head
Māori wāhi tāmomo, pūmotomoto
- wāhi tāmomosoft spot on a baby's head
- pūmotomotosoft spot on a baby's head
Persian ملاج
- ملاج (malâj)soft spot on a baby's head
Polish ciemiączko
- ciemiączkosoft spot on a baby's head
Portuguese fontanela, moleira
- fontanelasoft spot on a baby's head
- moleirasoft spot on a baby's head
Romanian fontanelă
- fontanelăsoft spot on a baby's head
Russian родничо́к, те́мечко
- родничо́к (rodničók)soft spot on a baby's head
- те́мечко (témečko)soft spot on a baby's head
Slovak fontanela
- fontanelasoft spot on a baby's head
Spanish fontanela, mollera
- fontanelasoft spot on a baby's head
- mollerasoft spot on a baby's head
Swedish fontanell
- fontanellsoft spot on a baby's head
Tagalog bumbunan
- bumbunansoft spot on a baby's head
Thai กระหม่อม, ขม่อม
- กระหม่อม (grà-mɔ̀m)soft spot on a baby's head
- ขม่อม (kà-mɔ̀ɔm)soft spot on a baby's head
Turkish bıngıldak, imik
- bıngıldaksoft spot on a baby's head
- imiksoft spot on a baby's head
Ukrainian джере́льце, ті́м'ячко
- джере́льце (džerélʹce)soft spot on a baby's head
- ті́м'ячко (tímʺjačko)soft spot on a baby's head
Vietnamese thóp, mỏ ác
- thópsoft spot on a baby's head
- mỏ ácsoft spot on a baby's head
Cite this entry
fontanelle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fontanelle
“fontanelle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fontanelle. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fontanelle,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fontanelle.
Source: fontanelle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.