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occipital - 9 dictionary results
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oc⋅cip⋅i⋅tal

  [ok-sip-i-tl] Anatomy
Use occipital in a Sentence
–adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or situated near the occiput or the occipital bone.
–noun
2. any of several parts of the occiput, esp. the occipital bone.
Origin:
1535–45; < ML occipitālis, equiv. to L occipit- (s. of occiput) occiput + -ālis -al 1

Related forms:
oc⋅cip⋅i⋅tal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To occipital
oc·cip·i·tal   (ŏk-sĭp'ĭ-tl)   
adj.  Of or relating to the occiput or to the occipital bone: an occipital fracture.
n.  The occipital bone.
oc·cip'i·tal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Occipital

Oc*cip"i*tal\, a. [Cf. F. occipital.] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the occiput, or back part of the head, or to the occipital bone.

Occipital bone (Anat.), the bone which forms the posterior segment of the skull and surrounds the great foramen by which the spinal cord leaves the cranium. In the higher vertebrates it is usually composed of four bones, which become consolidated in the adult.

Occipital point (Anat.), the point of the occiput in the mesial plane farthest from the ophryon.

Occipital

Oc*cip"i*tal\, n. (Anat.) The occipital bone.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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occipital 
1541, from M.Fr. occipital, from M.L. occipitalis, from L. occiput (gen. occipitis) "back of the skull," from ob "against, behind" + caput "head" (see head).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1oc·cip·i·tal
Pronunciation: äk-'sip-&t-&l
Function: adjective
: of, relating to, orlocated within or near the occiput or the occipital bone

Main Entry: 2occipital
Function: noun
: OCCIPITAL BONE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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occipital oc·cip·i·tal (ŏk-sĭp'ĭ-tl)
adj.
Of or relating to the occipital bone. n.
The occipital bone.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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occipital

bone forming the back and back part of the base of the cranium, the part of the skull that encloses the brain. It has a large oval opening, the foramen magnum, through which the medulla oblongata passes, linking the spinal cord and brain. The occipital adjoins five of the other seven bones forming the cranium: at the back of the head, the two parietal bones; at the side, the temporal bones; and in front, the sphenoid bone, which also forms part of the base of the cranium. The occipital is concave internally to hold the back of the brain and is marked externally by nuchal (neck) lines where the neck musculature attaches. The occipital forms both in membrane and in cartilage; these parts fuse in early childhood. The seam, or suture, between the occipital and the sphenoid closes between ages 18 and 25, that with the parietals between ages 26 and 40.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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