nostril

nos·tril
N1O1S1T1R1I1L1
UK/ˈnɒs.tɹɪl/UK/ˈnɒs.tɹəl/Canada, US/ˈnɑ.stɹəl/Australia/ˈnɔs.tɹəl/

noun

Either of the two orifices located on the nose (or on the beak of a bird); used as a passage for air and other gases to travel the nasal passages.

Similar
intakenarenarisnoseholeanterior naris
OriginMiddle English nostrille ← Old English nosþyrel →
UncommonScrabble 7
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Meanings

nounnostril (plural nostrils)

plural nostrils · alternative nosethirl

  1. Either of the two orifices located on the nose (or on the beak of a bird); used as a passage for air and other gases to travel the nasal passages.

    […]whether it bee that they bee broken winded and purſiue, or otherwiſe bitten and ſtung with venomous beaſts; in which caſes, there muſt be an injection made vp into the noſthrils, of the juice of Rue in wine.

    1601, Plinius Secundus, translated by Philemon Holland, The Hiſtorie of the World. Commonly Called, the Naturall Hiſtorie […] , London: Impenſis G. B, Book L, Chapter XIII, page 58

    Synonyms: intake, nare, naris, nosehole

Synonyms & antonyms

nounEither of the two orifices located on the nose (or on the beak of a bird); used as a passage for air and other gases to travel the nasal passages.

Similar
intakenarenarisnosehole

More synonyms by meaning

nouneither one of the two external openings to the nasal cavity in the nose

Similar
anterior naris
Broader
naris

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishnosþyrel
  2. Middle Englishnostrille
  3. Englishnostril

From Middle English nostrille, from Old English nosþyrel. Compare Old Frisian nosterle (“nostril”), modern West Frisian noaster (“nostrill”). Compare also Middle Low German noster (“nostril”), from Proto-Germanic *nustriz (“nostril”). By surface analysis, nose + thirl (“hole”).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans neusgat
  • neusgateither of the two orifices located on the nose
Ancient Greek μυκτήρ, ῥώθων
  • μυκτήρ (muktḗr)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • ῥώθων (rhṓthōn)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Arabic مَنْخَر
  • مَنْخَر (manḵar)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Bengali নাসারন্ধ্র
  • নাসারন্ধ্র (naśarondhro)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Bulgarian но́здра, но́здря
  • но́здра (nózdra)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • но́здря (nózdrja)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Catalan nariu
  • nariueither of the two orifices located on the nose
Chinese Cantonese 鼻哥窿
  • 鼻哥窿either of the two orifices located on the nose
Chinese Mandarin 鼻孔, 鼻子眼
  • 鼻孔 (bíkǒng)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • 鼻子眼 (bíziyǎn)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Czech nozdra, nosní dírka
  • nozdraeither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • nosní dírkaeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Danish næsebor
  • næseboreither of the two orifices located on the nose
Dutch neusgat
  • neusgateither of the two orifices located on the nose
Esperanto naztruo
  • naztruoeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Estonian sõõre, ninasõõre
  • sõõreeither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • ninasõõreeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Finnish sierain
  • sieraineither of the two orifices located on the nose
French narine, (unformally) trou de nez
  • narineeither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • (unformally) trou de nezeither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • naseaueither of the two orifices located on the nose
German Nasenloch, Nüster
  • Nasenlocheither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • Nüstereither of the two orifices located on the nose
Greek ρουθούνι
  • ρουθούνι (routhoúni)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Hebrew נְחִיר
  • נְחִיר (nekhir)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Hindi नथना, नथुना
  • नथना (nathnā)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • नथुना (nathunā)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • नासापुट (nāsāpuṭ)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Hungarian orrlyuk
  • orrlyukeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Icelandic nös
  • nöseither of the two orifices located on the nose
Indonesian lubang hidung
  • lubang hidungeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Italian narice
  • nariceeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Japanese 鼻孔, 鼻の穴
  • 鼻孔 (bikō)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • 鼻の穴 (hana no ana)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Korean 콧구멍
  • 콧구멍 (kotgumeong)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Latin nāris
  • nāriseither of the two orifices located on the nose
Latvian nāss
  • nāsseither of the two orifices located on the nose
Lithuanian šnervė
  • šnervėeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Malay lubang hidung
  • lubang hidungeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Māori pongāihu, putaaihu
  • pongāihueither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • putaaihueither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • pongapongaeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Norwegian Bokmål nesebor
  • neseboreither of the two orifices located on the nose
Persian سوراخ بینی, بینیدره
  • سوراخ بینی (surâx bini)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • بینیدره (bīnīdare)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • نای بینی (nāy-e bīnī)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Polish nozdrze
  • nozdrzeeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Portuguese narina
  • narinaeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Punjabi ਨਾਸ, ਨਥਨਾ
  • ਨਾਸ (nās)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • ਨਥਨਾ (nathnā)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • ناس (nās)either of the two orifices located on the nose
  • نَتْھنا (nathnā)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Romanian nară
  • narăeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Russian ноздря́
  • ноздря́ (nozdrjá)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Scottish Gaelic cuinnean
  • cuinneaneither of the two orifices located on the nose
Slovak nozdra, nosová dierka
  • nozdraeither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • nosová dierkaeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Spanish narina, ventana
  • narinaeither of the two orifices located on the nose
  • ventanaeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Swahili tundu la pua
  • tundu la puaeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Swedish näsborre
  • näsborreeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Tagalog butas-ilong
  • butas-ilongeither of the two orifices located on the nose
Thai รูจมูก
  • รูจมูก (ruu-jà-mùuk)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Turkish burun deliği
  • burun deliğieither of the two orifices located on the nose
Ukrainian ні́здря
  • ні́здря (nízdrja)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Urdu نَتْھنا
  • نَتْھنا (nathnā)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Vietnamese lỗ mũi
  • lỗ mũieither of the two orifices located on the nose
Welsh ffroen
  • ffroeneither of the two orifices located on the nose
Yiddish נאָזלאָך
  • נאָזלאָך (nozlokh)either of the two orifices located on the nose
Zulu ikhala
  • ikhalaeither of the two orifices located on the nose

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with nostril

australrostralbrevirostralinternostrilmarginirostralmesorostralnasorostralplatyrostralpostrostralserratirostral
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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