commissuren.
/ˈkɒmᵻʃə/, /ˈkɒmᵻʃʊə/, /ˈkɒmᵻsjʊə/, U.S. /ˈkɑməˌʃʊr/ 1. Originally: a suture (suture n. 2a) of the skull (now rare). In later use: a joint or junction between any two bones.coronal commissure, lambdoidal commissure, sagittal commissure: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > joint > types of joint > [noun]
seamc1050
commissure?a1425
arthrodia1565
commissary1577
gomphosis1578
inarticulation1578
suture1578
symphysis1578
synarthrosis1578
adarticulation1615
harmony1615
synchondrosis1615
enarthrosis1634
harmonia1657
mortise-articulation1658
ball and socket1664
synneurosis1676
syssarcosis1676
ginglymus1678
syndesmosis1726
ginglymus1733
hinge-joint1802
screw-joint1810
schindylesis1830
amphiarthrosis1835
pivot joint1848
synosteosis1848
synostosis1848
indigitation1849
screwed-surfaced joint1875
thorough-joint1889
the world > life > the body > structural parts > joint > joints > [noun] > joints of skull
commissure?a1425
lambdac1475
sagittal suture (addition, commissure)?1541
coronal suture1543
sagit?1550
garland-seam1576
commissary1577
agglutination1578
skull-seam1605
lambdoidal suture (commissure)1653
transverse suture1741
orbitar1782
pterion1878
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Hunterian) f. 43 (MED) Þe bone þat is cleped þe braine panne..is ioyned wiþ commissures [L. commissuris] liche to a sawe, þat þe vapoures mowe respiren þurȝ hem fro þe braine.
c1475 tr. Henri de Mondeville Surgery (Wellcome) f. 161v (MED) Þe wounde or þe fissure muste be maad largere in þe brayn panne; it schal be maad largere al oonly on þat partie þat is moost hurt, but if it be toward þe commissuris, for in þat case þe fissure muste be largere on þat partie þat is moost hool.
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Div Ye commyssures [Fr. commissures] or seames of the brayne panne or skull.
1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions ii. iii. f. 108v The Lunges causeth a fomie & froathie licour: the commissures or setting together of the Ioyntes, a glewish humour.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 137 There is no commissure or seame in his scull..but it is a continued bone.
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xxvii If any thought by flight to escape, he made his head to flie in pieces by the Lamdoidal commissure, which is a seame in the hinder part of the scull.
1707 J. Dunton Athenian Sport lxxv. 353/2 He [sc. a Pock-master] feeleth any Ache in every Commissure of his Joints, and his Bones do even rattle in his Skin.
1784 A. Hamilton Outl. Theory & Pract. Midwifery iii. ii. 307 The operation consists in making an incision with a scalpel through the common integuments and soft parts, in the direction of the commissure of the ossa pubis.
1847 J. L. Comstock Elements Geol. xxv. 182 In the end of the lower jaw, and on the left side of the commissure, or junction of the two bones, is a small round tooth, or rudimental tusk.
1865 G. Grote Plato II. xxiii. 170 That my bones are held apart by Commissures.
1993 A. E. Panerai et al. in E. B. De Souza Neurobiol. Cytokines: Pt. A 294 After ether anesthesia, rats are decapitated and the skulls opened with two lateral cuts parallel to the sagittal commissure.
2002 J. A. Clack Gaining Ground ii. 39 The part where the hyomandibula attached to the otic capsule in most fishes, called the lateral commissure in Eusthenopteron, disappeared in tetrapods.
2. A connection, or suture; the line or surface along which contiguous parts touch each other or form a connection. Also figurative. Now rare. Cf. senses 3, 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > [noun] > a join or junction
juncturea1382
jointure1382
joiningc1384
commissure?c1425
shuttingc1440
concourse?a1560
abutment1644
internodium1653
shut1721
uniting1728
conjuncture1747
join1825
junction1841
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 525 Be it kytte..after þe goynge of þe wryncele..on þe lefte side fro þe commissure [L. commissura].
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) v. l. 34 His commissure [L. conmissura] in erthe hit stont so depe, And out of hit olive agayn wol crepe.
1585 J. Banister Wecker's Compend. Chyrurg. i. 205 But if the hinder commissure, or seame be couered with fleshe, take away the same commissure, and the testicle withall.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xv. 451 Any chinker, gaping or rift, betwixt the commissures & ioynts of the two barkes.
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1672) 60 The sole Inconvenience of Shaking and Disjoynting the Commissures with so many strokes of the Chizel.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 557 They made the Juncture and Commissure betwixt God and the Creature, so smooth and close, that where they indeed parted, was altogether undiscernible.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Commissure, in Architecture, &c. the Joint of two Stones.
1754 J. Hill Urania at Compagnes Coeli With him, and with those who have adopted the opinion.., the Milky Way was understood to be the commissure, or joining, of the northern and southern hemispheres.
1842 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 52 159 The opposite halves..were placed in different hands, and a commissure effected by cementation.
1855 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 18 426/1 The keys or flanges, and the clefts or commissures, are so arranged around the outside of each box.
1994 P. Barolsky Faun in Garden v. 54 Titian's Fête Champêtre is linked in a close commissure to other contemporary paintings that sing of the rustic sources of poetry.
3. Anatomy and Zoology.
a. The junction or angle where the eyelids, lips, mandibles of the beak, valves of a shell, leaflets of a heart valve, etc., come together.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [noun] > corner of eye
wickc1400
lacrimal?a1425
canthus1646
commissure1677
tail of the eye1805
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > mouth > [noun] > lip or lips > corner of
wickc1400
wicking1604
commissure1677
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 101 Bent circularly to the hinge or commissure of the valves.
1733 G. Douglas tr. J. B. Winslow Anat. Expos. Struct. Human Body II. vii. 105 The external Parts of the Mouth, are these: The Lips, one upper, the other lower, the Angles or Commissures [Fr. commissures] of the Lips, the Border or Edge of each Lip, [etc.].
1756 Philos. Trans. 1755 (Royal Soc.) 49 191 A cancerous tumor..reached from the commissure of the lower lid..of the right eye.
1826 S. Cooper First Lines Pract. Surg. (ed. 5) ii. xxiv. 395 Dr. Cusack made an incision through the lower lip, beginning at its right commissure.
1859 J. Tomes Syst. Dental Surg. 399 The commissure of the lips being drawn back by the first and second finger.
1881 Med. News & Abstr. 39 288 They [sc. the semilunar valves of the aorta] were likewise of unequal breadth and depth, and slightly united at their commissures.
1907 Jrnl. Cutaneous Dis. 25 372 Near the oral commissure is an irregular whitish thickened patch of epidermis, marginate and raised.
1950 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 3 June 1286/1 The portions of the fused valve on each side of the oval orifice have been termed the ‘commissures of the valve’ by Bailey.
1986 J. F. Gracey Meat Hygiene (ed. 8) xx. 472/2 Similar lesions may be found in turkey pox but then the skin of the unfeathered part of the neck, eyelids and commissures of the mouth are commonly affected.
2004 D. J. Phinney & J. H. Halstead Dental Assisting (ed. 2) iv. 72/2 The corners of the mouth, where the upper lip meets the lower lip, are known as labial commissures.
b. The line formed by the closure of the lips, eyelids, mandibles of the beak, valves of a shell, etc.; (also) the gap between such structures when partly closed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > specific areas or structures > [noun] > seam
raphe1615
commissure1707
1707 J. Drake Anthropol. Nova II. iii. xi. 552 At the commissure or joining of the Eye-lids, are form'd two Angles or Corners, of which the inner (that next the Nose) is call'd Canthus Major, the other Minor.
1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. II. 189 Their Striæ not being bent to the Commissure as those of all Oysters are.
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 306/2 There are three eye-lids [in Birds], two of which move vertically, and have a horizontal commissure.
1872 C. Darwin Expression Emotions Man & Animals vii. 193 The commissure or line of junction of the two lips forms a curved line, with the concavity downwards.
1892 Med. & Surg. Reporter 18 June 978/1 She had to..distort the face by tension of the orbicularis orbis, zygomatici and other facial muscles in order to widen the palpebral commissure.
1918 R. Ridgway Birds North & Middle Amer. (Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 50) VIII. 755 The mandibular rami relatively broad; commissure nearly straight for most of its length, gently decurved.
1959 Jrnl. Paleontol. 33 740/1 The lateral and anterior commissures are evenly rounded.
2006 M. Elbroch Animal Skulls 642 American coot, Fulica americana... Features:..(9) Line of commissure slightly angulate.
4. Anatomy and Zoology.
a. Any of various bands of nerve fibres connecting two parts of the nervous system, esp. on opposite sides of the brain or spinal cord. Frequently with distinguishing word.middle commissure, optic commissure: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > brain > parts of brain > [noun] > commissure
commissure1695
corpus callosum1706
optic commissure1848
optic chiasma1856
supracommissure1886
1695 H. Ridley Anat. Brain xiii. 128 Dr. Willis places this Chord or Commissure under the Roots of the Fornix, but it is always behind it.
1739 G. Thomson Compend. Anat. vi. 67 in Syllabus Below this gland is a small medullary cord, called the posterior commissure of the lateral lobes of the brain.
1765 C. N. Jenty Course Anatomico-physiol. Lect. (ed. 3) III. vii. 163 We observe a large, white, short, medullary Ligament extended transversly between the two Hemispheres, and commonly called the anterior Commissure of the Cerebrum.
1839 New-Yorker 4 May 98/1 The different parts of the brain are brought into communication with each other by means of a number of commissures.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 120 The bands of nerve-fibres uniting the various ganglia are termed ‘commissures’ when they unite the ganglia of the same pair, e.g. the cerebral.
1925 Jrnl. Compar. Neurol. 39 195 (caption) Horizontal section through the posterior commissure, showing the pretectal nucleus.
1968 Brain 91 555 The forebrain commissures (anterior, hippocampal and callosal) all develop within the commissural plate in the primitive lamina terminalis.
2002 S. Pinker Blank Slate (Book Club ed.) xviii. 347 Portions of the cerebral commissures, which link the left and right hemispheres, appear to be larger in women.
b. A band of tissue connecting two organs or two parts of the body (other than parts of the nervous system). Now rare.In quot. 1836: two conjoined twins.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > constituent materials > [noun] > band of muscle
commissure1836
1836 Periscope Oct. in Medico-chirurg. Rev., & Jrnl. Pract. Med. 25 494/1 The bond of union between these twins consists in a tegumentary commissure, situated at the base of the sternum, and extending from thence downwards for two inches and a half, or three inches in length.
1870 G. Rolleston Forms Animal Life 31 Two long delicate bars of cartilage which are..anteriorly connected with each other by a fibrous commissure about the level of the angle of the lower jaw.
1902 Philadelphia Med. Jrnl. 9 349 An incision was made to the right of the median line, the peritoneum divided and the commissure connecting the two kidneys excised.
2014 K. L. Moore et al. Clinically Oriented Anat. (ed. 7) iii. 378/1 The isthmus of the prostate (commissure of prostate; historically, the anterior ‘lobe’) lies anterior to the urethra.
5. Botany.
a. A suture of a carpel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > (defined by) distribution, arrangement, or position > [noun] > joining part
commissure1830
raphe1849
1830 J. Lindley Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. 236 Bearing the seeds at the commissure along with the valves.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 149 Umbelliferæ..carpels separated by a commissure.
1959 Ann. Missouri Bot. Garden 46 242 The 2 carpels united by their faces (commissure) and commonly separating at maturity.
2011 A. Haines New Eng. Wild Flower Soc.'s Flora Novae Angliae 334 Petals yellow; schizocarp conspicuously compressed parallel to the commissure.
b. In mosses: †(a) the junction between the lid and opening of the sporangium (obsolete); (b) the junction between two cells, esp. between a green and a hyaline cell in the leaf of a sphagnum moss.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > parts of
moutha1398
fimbria1752
calyptra1753
veil1760
lid1776
apophysis1785
operculum1788
peristoma1792
peristome1799
peristomium1806
hair-point1818
vaginula1818
perigynium1821
vaginule1821
gemma1830
paraphyllium1832
tympanum1832
perigon1857
pseudopodium1861
commissure1863
ocrea1863
cap1864
chaeta1866
struma1866
membranulet1891
pyxis1900
pseudopod1914
annulus-
1863 M. J. Berkeley Handbk. Brit. Mosses Gloss. 311/2 Commissure, the point of junction of two cells, or of the lid and mouth of the sporangium.
1954 Kew Bull. 9 519 On convex side large unringed pores in rows on the commissure.
1978 M. O. Hill in A. J. E. Smith Moss Flora Brit. & Ireland 55 Pores various, commonly present on both surfaces, positioned at cell angles or distributed more generally along commissures.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.?a1425