Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In pathology, an opening for the discharge of pus.
  • noun A vacancy between bones of the skull of a young animal, due to incompleteness of the process of ossification.
  • noun Some similar opening between other bones, as in the scapular arch of some batrachians.
  • noun Also fontinel.

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

  • noun (Anat.) Same as fontanel, 2.

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

  • noun A soft membraneous spot on the head of a baby due to incomplete fusion of the cranial bones.

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 Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French fontenelle.

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Examples

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  • The soft spot on an infant's head.

    October 28, 2007