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Webster 1913 Edition


Fontanel

Fon′ta-nelˊ

,
Noun.
[F.
fontanelle
, prop., a little fountain, fr.
fontaine
fountain. See
Fountain
.]
1.
(Med.)
An issue or artificial ulcer for the discharge of humors from the body.
[Obs.]
Wiseman.
2.
(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.
☞ In the human fetus there are six fontanels, of which the anterior, or bregmatic, situated at the junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures, is much the largest, and remains open a considerable time after birth.

Webster 1828 Edition


Fontanel

FONT'ANEL

, n.
1.
An issue for the discharge of humors from the body.
2.
A vacancy in the infant cranium, between the frontal and parietal bones, and also between the parietal and occipital, at the two extremities of the sagittal suture.