trigeminal

[ trahy-jem-uh-nl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

Also called trigeminal nerve. either one of the fifth pair of cranial nerves, consisting of motor fibers that innervate the muscles of mastication, and of sensory fibers that conduct impulses from the head and face to the brain.

trigeminal

/ traɪˈdʒɛmɪnəl /

1820–30; < New Latin trigemin ( us ) ( Latin: triple, equivalent to tri- tri- + geminus twin, double) + -al ¹

C19: from Latin trigeminus triplet, from tri- + geminus twin

Anteriorly it is pierced by a pair of small foramina through which the ophthalmic branches of the trigeminal nerve pass out.

Between the trigeminal and optic foramina are the very small foramina for the sixth nerves (fig. 25, B, VI).

These perforate the palatine and transmit branches of the trigeminal nerve and certain blood-vessels.

The epimeral purely sensory nerves to the somatic surface, equivalent in the vertebrate to the ascending root of the trigeminal.

All the muscles belonging to this oral chamber are of the visceral type, and are innervated by the trigeminal nerve.

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