Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Anatomy A small frenum.
- n. Entomology A bristly structure on the hind wings of certain moths and butterflies that holds the forewings and hind wings together during flight.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In anatomy, same as frenum or frenula.
- n. In lepidopterous insects, a strong, elastic, sometimes double bristle on the upper edge of the secondary wing, near its base. Also spelled frænulum. It can be drawn through a hook on the under side of the primary, and serves to lock the wings together. The frenulum is wanting in nearly all butterflies which do not fold the secondaries when at rest.
Morris.
Wiktionary
Etymologies
- From Latin frēnulum, diminutive of frēnum. (Wiktionary)
- New Latin frēnulum, diminutive of Latin frēnum, bridle; see frenum. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word frenulum can also refer to the muscular connection that can be felt on the underside of the tongue.”
“There are more nerve endings near the underside called the frenulum where the foreskin is attached and around the head (the corona), and more girth, generally speaking.”
“In particular, the frenulum is a very erogenous region known as the "sex nerve" in France that is either ablated during circumcision or is extremely underdeveloped on the circumcised penis.”
“Immediately behind the external urethral orifice it forms a small secondary reduplication, attached along the bottom of a depressed median raphé, which extends from the meatus to the neck; this fold is termed the frenulum of the prepuce.”
“From the inferior end of the longitudinal sulcus, a white band, termed the frenulum veli, is prolonged downward to the anterior medullary velum; on either side of this band the trochlear nerve emerges, and passes forward on the lateral aspect of the cerebral peduncle to reach the base of the brain.”
“On either side lateral to the frenulum is a slight fold of the mucous membrane, the plica fimbriata, the free edge of which occasionally exhibits a series of fringe-like processes.”
“She sucks cool air into her mouth, making him shiver at the sudden temperature differential and then pulls off, just keeping the head inside her mouth, her tongue circling wildly around the frenulum before plunging him back into her mouth as far as she can reach.”
Study Break--A Sky Without Zeppelins Missing Scene--Happy Birthday Amyo67
“Belanger was not wearing a mouthguard and Bergeron's stick - a composite model wrapped in Kevlar to make it more durable - tore a labial frenulum (a muscle attachment) inside his mouth.”
The Washington Post: Eric Belanger: 'I felt my teeth shatter right away'
“He had an abysmal latch and had to have his frenulum clipped but not before my nipples were savaged and bleeding.”
“Sounds like my similar experience with an equally voracious eater with a tight frenulum and one inverted nipple (me).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘frenulum’.
-
Not in the Periodic Table
Words that sound like they might be the names of elements of the periodic table, but that aren't. Many of the words listed here were actually proposed as names for substances their creators thought...
tentorium, columbarium, nasturtium, deuterium, caladium, valerian, concordium, synangium, chorium, geranium, hymenium, pyrenium and 310 more...
-
anatomy etcetera
Funny sounding things found in bodies. Might be split up into several lists later...
zona incerta, mucous membrane, secretomotor, tear film, tear sac, duodenum, horripilation, peduncle, pelvic outlet, canal of Schlemm, visceral, chromosomal cross... and 189 more...
-
poonis's Words
windswept, brouhaha, nocuous, sanguine, dissonance, diatribe, homunculus, rancor, stupor, resplendent, anecdote, splay and 125 more...
-
It Has a Name??
Yes. Yes it does.
aglet, armsaye, scroop, rowel, ferrule, rasceta, chanking, philtrum, frenulum, keeper, agelast, punt and 285 more...
-
Fall Words 2009
sgraffito, maestá, tempera, size, gesso, obsolescence, hinterland, taboret, pram, amygdalate, pandect, loggia and 105 more...
-
My Words
heuristic, malapropism, vicissitude, discursive, interstitial, velleity, phosphene, pandiculate, obdormition, vertiginous, flibbertigibbet, truculent and 128 more...
-
zonson
-
fbharjo's Words
jumelle, kef, kenspeckle, lautitious, essentic, pilpulistic, impavid, cicurant, clou, chrysostomic, miasma, teleology and 1625 more...
-
Biology
malacological, cladistic, phenetic, phylogenetic, taxonomy, bathypelagic, superfamily, superorder, infraorder, binomen, binominal, quorum sensing and 199 more...
-
rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3251 more...
-
D's Words
If you could "tag" people....
allemande, bebop, excessive, assiduous, bailiwick, bandana, befuddle, busker, disconcerting, clothespin, cogitate, cultivar and 55 more...
-
Favorite body words
frenulum, phalange, orifice, polyp, cyst, duodenum, glandular, prehensile, colorectal, sphincter, ulna, goiter
-
nikshah's Words
unfurl, spring, egregious, flimsy, mastodon, squirm, velazquez, languor, ellipsis, susurration, phlegmatic, skulk and 20 more...
-
emily_morine's Words
crepuscular, troglodyte, archipelago, fjord, homunculus, lazuli, vivisection, encroach, meretricious, meniscus, doppelganger, ablution and 57 more...
-
Adrienne's Words
ekphrasis, aubade, jamais vu, polyptoton, mise en place, inferno, deus ex machina, semaphore, malapropism, neologism, clivus, sella turcica and 17 more...
-
douglas's Words
hauteur, jeremiads, petrichor, pleonasm, anodyne, schadenfreude, borborygmus, coprophagy, palaver, palanquin, peccant, loquacious and 37 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for frenulum.
reesetee Ah, you're right, mollusque. Frenum is usually reserved for the tongue thingy. Thanks for pointing that out. Apr 8, 2008
mollusque I thought the frenum attached the tongue, and "frenulum" was used for smaller connectors, such as the one tying the upper lip to the gums in line with the philtrum. Apr 8, 2008
reesetee The piece of skin that attaches your tongue to the bottom of your mouth (or any small fold of tissue that prevents an organ in the body from moving too far).
Edit: see above. Feb 23, 2007