sphenoid
/ˈsfiː.nɔɪd/adjective, noun
sphenoid is an adjective meaning “Having a wedge shape” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-P-H-E-N-O-I-D, and it appears about once in every 15 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does sphenoid mean?
adjective
- 1
Having a wedge shape.
- 2
Of or relating to the sphenoid bone which forms the base of the cranium, behind the eye and below the front part of the brain. It has two pairs of broad lateral ‘wings’ and a number of other projections, and contains two air-filled sinuses.
noun
- 1
The sphenoid bone.
- 2
A wedge-shaped crystal bounded by four equal isosceles triangles; the hemihedral form of a square pyramid.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce sphenoid?
- /ˈsfiː.nɔɪd/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sphenoid.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sphenoid
- sphenoids plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is sphenoid?
Sphenoid appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 118,441st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Sphenoid in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense wedge-shaped:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | esfenoide |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sphenoid come from?
From New Latin sphenoides, from Ancient Greek σφηνοειδής (sphēnoeidḗs, “wedge-shaped”), from σφήν (sphḗn, “wedge”) + -ειδής (-eidḗs, “-form, -like”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).