sinus

S1I1N1U1S1
/ˈsaɪ.nəs/

noun

A pouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue, especially one in the bones of the face or skull connecting with the nasal cavities (the paranasal sinus).

Less commonScrabble 5

Meanings

nounsinus (plural sinuses)

plural sinuses

  1. anatomyA pouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue, especially one in the bones of the face or skull connecting with the nasal cavities (the paranasal sinus).
    1. attributiveanatomyRelating to or denoting the sinoatrial node of the heart or its function of regulating the heartbeat.
  2. medicineAn abnormal cavity or passage such as a fistula, leading from a deep-seated infection and discharging pus to the surface.
  3. biologyA rounded notch or depression between two lobes or teeth in the margin of a leaf or petal.
  4. geographyA bay of the sea; a recess in the shore.
  5. mathematicsSynonym of sine.

    The variations are described in terms of cycles of sinuses and cosinuses.

    1996, Pentti Zetterberg, Matti Eronen, Markus Lindholm, “Construction of a 7500-Year Tree-Ring Record for Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris, L.) in Northern Fennoscandia and its Application to Growth Variation and Palaeoclimatic Studies”, in Heinrich Spiecker, Kari Mielikäinen, Michael Köhl, Jens Peter Skovsgaard, editors, Growth Trends in European Forests (European Forest Institute Research Report; No. 5), Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, →ISBN, page 15
    2 more examples

    So, in the helicopteron, as the helix is at the same time a sustaining plane, it should be likened to a surface moving horizontally, and in which, consequenty, the resistance to motion will be to the lifting power as the sinus is to the cosinus of the angle formed by such plane with the horizon.

    1884 November 29, “Aerial Navigation”, in Scientific American: A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures, volume LI, number 22, New York, N.Y.: Munn & Co., translation of original by Victor Tatin in La Nature, page 342, column 1

    Basically, the rotation of the matrix of the factor loadings L represents its post-multiplication, i.e. L* = LO by the rotation matrix O, which itself resembles one of the matrices included in the classical rotational Lie groups SO(m) (containing the specific m–fold combination of sinuses and cosinuses.

    2007, Vladimir G. Ivancevic, Tijana T. Ivancevic, “Introduction: Human and Computational Mind”, in Computational Mind: A Complex Dynamics Perspective (Studies in Computational Intelligence; 60), Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, →ISBN, →LCCN, section 1 (Natural Intelligence and Human Mind), pages 60–61

    Synonyms: sine

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of sine.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nounan abnormal passage leading from a suppurating cavity to the body surface

Similar

nouna wide channel containing blood; does not have the coating of an ordinary blood vessel

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinsinus“a bent surface, curve, hollow”
  2. Englishsinus

Learned borrowing from Latin sinus (“a bent surface, curve, hollow”). Doublet of sine.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans sinus, sinusse
  • sinuspouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
  • sinussepouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Arabic جَيْب اَلْأُنْف
  • جَيْب اَلْأُنْف (jayb al-ʔunf)pouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Bulgarian синус
  • синус (sinus)pouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Catalan si
  • sipouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Chinese Mandarin 竇 /窦, 竇性 /窦性
  • 竇 /窦 (dòu)pouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
  • 竇性 /窦性 (dòuxìng)relating to the sinoatrial node
  • 竇 /窦 (dòu)venous or lymphatic cavity
Czech sinus, dutina
  • sinuspouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
  • dutinapouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Esperanto sinuso
  • sinusopouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Finnish ontelo, avanne
  • ontelopouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
  • avanneabnormal cavity or passage
French sinus
  • sinuspouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
German Sinus, (paranasal) Nasennebenhöhle
  • Sinuspouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
  • (paranasal) Nasennebenhöhlepouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Hungarian üreg
  • üregpouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Italian seno
  • senopouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Japanese 副鼻腔
  • 副鼻腔 (fukubikō)pouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Māori pakohu
  • pakohupouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Persian کاوک
  • کاوک (kāvak)pouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Polish zatoka
  • zatokapouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Portuguese seio
  • seiopouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Romanian sinus
  • sinuspouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Russian па́зуха, свищ
  • па́зуха (pázuxa)pouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
  • свищ (svišč)abnormal cavity or passage
  • фи́стула (fístula)abnormal cavity or passage
Spanish cavidad/alvéolo/alveolo sinusal
  • cavidad/alvéolo/alveolo sinusalpouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue
Turkish sinüs
  • sinüspouch or cavity in a bone or other tissue

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with sinus

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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