Meanings
plural foramina · plural foramens
- anatomyAn opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone.
The skull contains a number of foramina through which arteries, veins, nerves, and other structures enter and exit.
1 more example
There is — as I have explained — a slight want of alignment in the cervical vertebrae which has, as I perceive it, the effect of lessening the foramina through which the nerve roots emerge.
1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structure
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinforāmen“aperture or opening produced by boring”
- Englishforamen
Borrowed from Latin forāmen (“aperture or opening produced by boring”), from forō (“to pierce or bore”) + -men (nominal suffix).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ثُقْبَة
- ثُقْبَة (ṯuqba)an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
Catalan foramen, forat
- foramenan opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
- foratan opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
Czech otvor
- otvoran opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
French foramen
- foramenan opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
German Foramen
- Foramenan opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
Polish otwór
- otwóran opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
Russian отве́рстие
- отве́рстие (otvérstije)an opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
Spanish foramen
- foramenan opening, an orifice, or a short passage, especially in a bone
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with foramen
Anagrams
Cite this entry
foramen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foramen
“foramen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foramen. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foramen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foramen.
Source: foramen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.