Meatus

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In anatomy, a meatus (/miːˈeɪtəs/, mee-AY-təs,[1] pl.: meatus or meatuses)[2] is a natural body opening or canal.

Meatus may refer to:

  • the external acoustic meatus, the opening of the ear canal
  • the internal auditory meatus, a canal in the temporal bone of the skull
  • the urinary meatus, which is the opening of the urethra, situated on the glans penis in males and in the vulval vestibule in females
  • one of three nasal meatuses: the superior meatus, middle meatus and inferior meatus; each are passages through the nasal cavity within the skull

(The plural forms of "meatus" are: meatus, as a Latin form (of the fourth declension noun class, which the word belongs to); or meatuses, as a normally derived English plural; or often, and incorrectly, meati, by false analogy with the very common Latin -us/-i forms (such as alumnus/alumni), i.e., the second declension noun class.)

See also

  • Meatal stenosis
  • Fossa (anatomy)
  • Foramen

References

  1. ^ OED 2nd edition, 1989, as /miːˈeɪtəs/.
  2. ^ Entry "meatus" in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
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