Definitions

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

  • noun Any of the soft membranous gaps between the incompletely formed cranial bones of a fetus or an infant.

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

  • noun (Med.), obsolete An issue or artificial ulcer for the discharge of humors from the body.
  • noun (Anat.) One of the membranous intervals between the incompleted angles of the parietal and neighboring bones of a fetal or young skull; -- so called because it exhibits a rhythmical pulsation.

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

  • noun Alternative spelling of fontanelle.

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

  • noun any membranous gap between the bones of the cranium in an infant or fetus

Etymologies

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

[Middle English fontinel, from Old French fontanele, diminutive of fontaine, fountain; see fountain.]

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Examples

  • FEIGIN: You have a spot called the fontanel but the thickness of the skull is minimal and it ` s easily fractured with not a whole lot of force.

    CNN Transcript Sep 1, 2009 2009

  • The fontanel is the soft spot on the top of a newborn baby's head.

    Chapter 8 1993

  • A roofline so soft and round it practically has a fontanel; huge and slightly unfocused headlamps; a grille that seems to be missing a binkie.

    For the Cheerleader in Everyone Dan Neil 2011

  • Being so frightfully concerned for her, I refused to touch the soft fontanel at the top of her head for any reason.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: New Moms Jack Canfield 2011

  • Being so frightfully concerned for her, I refused to touch the soft fontanel at the top of her head for any reason.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: New Moms Jack Canfield 2011

  • The larger fontanel usually closes by eighteen months after the birth; the smaller one closes by two to six months.

    Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn Penny Simkin 2010

  • A large, diamond-shaped fontanel is on the top front portion of her skull, and a smaller, triangle-shaped one is at the back.

    Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn Penny Simkin 2010

  • When a child is born, that part of the skull—the fontanel—is still soft and not yet closed.

    Spiritual Teachings of the Avatar Jeffrey Armstrong 2010

  • The larger fontanel usually closes by eighteen months after the birth; the smaller one closes by two to six months.

    Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn Penny Simkin 2010

  • A large, diamond-shaped fontanel is on the top front portion of her skull, and a smaller, triangle-shaped one is at the back.

    Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn Penny Simkin 2010

Comments

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  • Also spelled fontanelle.

    October 28, 2007