opisthenar

O1P3I1S1T1H4E1N1A1R1

noun

The back of the hand.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounopisthenar (plural opisthenars)

plural opisthenars

  1. rareanatomyThe back of the hand.

    Blood samples were obtained from the opisthenar vein for measurements of lactate.

    1998, Koichi Okita et al., “Skeletal Muscle Metabolism Limits Capacity in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure”, in Circulation, volume 98, number 18, pages 1886–1891
    3 more examples

    Her mother favored a multiyear project: obscenities carved in intricate and clever juxtapositions, descending every finger, curling in lettered whorls across the palm, fanning in offensive rays across the opisthenar, which is the name for the back of the hand, a word that Leilani knew because she had studied the structure of the human hand in detail, the better to understand her difference.

    2001, Dean R. Koontz, One Door Away from Heaven, Random House, →ISBN, page 497

    The handstrap includes an opisthenar-surrounding strap portion (3) which attaches to a handgrip (1) by way of transmission straps (4, 5) extending under the palm and thumb.

    2002, Taisto Manninen et al., "Handgrip for a Skiing, Walking or Skating Pole and Handstrap Fastened to the Same" (U.S. patent application), abstract

    Seventy seconds after iodine contrast medium […] was injected at 1.0 ml/sec (total 100 ml) from^([sic]) the opisthenar vein, the whole breast was examined […]

    2002, Hiroshi Nakahara et al., “Extension of Breast Cancer: Comparison of CT and MRI”, in Radiation Medicine, volume 20, number 1, page 17

Origin

From opistho- (“behind, back”) + thenar (“palm of the hand”). By surface analysis, opis- + thenar.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

opisthenar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opisthenar

MLA

“opisthenar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opisthenar. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “opisthenar,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opisthenar.

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