Ethmoid
/ˈɛθ.mɔɪd/noun
Relating to the sieve-shaped bone in the skull between the eyes.
Did you know?Ethmoid comes from Greek ethmós, meaning a sieve, because the bone’s perforated shape looked like something designed to strain out the unseen.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἠθμός (ēthmós)
“sieve”
Late Greek
Greek
ἠθμοειδής (ēthmoeidḗs)
“sieve-shaped, like a sieve”
Late Latin
Latin
ethmoides
“ethmoid, sieve-like”
16th Century
English
ethmoides
“a sieve-shaped bone in the skull”
Modern English
English
ethmoid
“relating to the ethmoid bone or the ethmoid region”
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