Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The junction of the sagittal and coronal sutures at the top of the skull.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In anatomy, the junction of the sagittal and coronal sutures of the skull; the anterior fontanel.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) The point of junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures of the skull.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy the anatomical structure on the skull where the coronal suture and sagittal suture meet

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the craniometric point at the junction of the sagittal and coronal sutures at the top of the cranium

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, top of the head, from Greek.]

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Examples

  • For the brain about the bregma feels more quickly and strongly any mischief that may occur to the flesh or the bone; for the brain about the bregma is in largest quantity, and is covered by the thinnest bone and the least flesh.

    On Injuries Of The Head 2007

  • In respect to thickness and thinness; the thinnest and weakest part of the whole head is the part about the bregma; and the bone there has the smallest and thinnest covering of flesh upon it, and the largest proportion of brain is situated in that region of the head.

    On Injuries Of The Head 2007

  • For this reason the ‘bregma’ is the last of the bones to be formed; even after birth this bone is still soft in children.

    On the Generation of Animals 2002

  • The front portion of it is termed ‘bregma’ or ‘sinciput’, developed after birth-for it is the last of all the bones in the body to acquire solidity, - the hinder part is termed the

    The History of Animals 2002

  • The motor area on both sides of the brain was sometimes implicated; thus in a child shot at Kimberley the bullet entered in the right frontal region, and emerged to the left of the line connecting bregma and inion

    Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre George Henry Makins

  • The point of junction of the sagittal and coronal suture is named the bregma, that of the sagittal and lambdoid sutures, the lambda; they indicate respectively the positions of the anterior and posterior fontanelles in the fetal skull.

    II. Osteology. 5c. The Exterior of the Skull 1918

  • Immediately above the glabella may be seen the remains of the frontal suture; in a small percentage of skulls this suture persists and extends along the middle line to the bregma.

    II. Osteology. 5c. The Exterior of the Skull 1918

  • The position of the coronal suture on either side is sufficiently represented by a line joining the bregma to the center of the zygomtic arch.

    XII. Surface Anatomy and Surface Markings. 2. Surface Markings of Special Regions of the Head and Neck 1918

  • —The frontal angle is practically a right angle, and corresponds with the point of meeting of the sagittal and coronal sutures; this point is named the bregma; in the fetal skull and for about a year and a half after birth this region is membranous, and is called the anterior fontanelle.

    II. Osteology. 5a. 2. The Parietal Bone 1918

  • The height is usually measured from the basion to the bregma, and the proportion of height to length (height X 100)/length constitutes the vertical or height index.

    II. Osteology. 5d. The Interior of the Skull 1918

Comments

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  • bregma - front of the head literally

    April 6, 2007

  • According to Oxford English Dictionary, bregma is the region of the skull where the frontal and the two parietal bones join; the sinciput; in infancy, before the sutures are closed, constituting the anterior fontanel. (Also formerly spoken of as two regions, the right and left bregmata.)

    August 7, 2011

  • Not to be confused with smegma.

    August 7, 2011