gingivaladj.n.
/dʒɪnˈdʒʌɪvl/, /ˈdʒɪn(d)ʒᵻvl/, U.S. /dʒᵻnˈdʒaɪvəl/, /ˈdʒɪndʒəvəl/ A. adj.
1. Phonetics. Of a speech sound: produced by placing the tongue against or near the gum behind the upper teeth; = alveolar adj. 1b. Also: designating this position of the tongue. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > mouth > [adjective] > gum
gingival1669
subgingival1867
1669 W. Holder Elem. Speech 71 P. and B. are Labial..T. and D. are Gingival.
1835 Leigh Hunt's London Jrnl. 4 July 210/2 What think you, gentlemen, of the Gingival, or the gum letters?
1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. vi. 98 English distinguishes three types [of stop] as to position: labial..; dental (more exactly, alveolar, or better gingival), in which the tip of the tongue makes closure against the ridge just back of the upper gums [t, d]; and velar.
1961 H. M. Bromley Phonol. Lower Grand Valley Dani ii. 6 There were three sets of stops, the first two sets occurring at labial, gingival, velar, and labio-velar points of articulation.
2. Chiefly Dentistry. Of or relating to the gums.
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the world > health and disease > healing > dentistry > [adjective] > branches of
gingival1722
orthodontic1905
paedodontic1937
prosthodontic1942
orthognathic1973
1722 R. Hale in Philos. Trans. 1720–21 (Royal Soc.) 31 8 From the Buccal, Labial, and Gingival Glands, the Saliva flows from all parts of the Mouth without the Teeth.
1834 Lancet 19 July 587/1 Providing teething be exciting the cerebral disturbance, free gingival scarification should occasionally be made, not generally, but over the teeth most advanced.
1872 J. S. Cohen Dis. Throat 139 The tumor began at 14 years of age, following the spontaneous opening of a gingival abscess.
1919 Jrnl. National Dental Assoc. 6 585/2 Suppuration occasionally follows and a gingival abscess develops.
1962 G. C. Blake & J. R. Trott Periodontol. v. 49 Papillitis is confined to the gingival papillae.
2002 Dental Pract. 1 Apr. 4 (advt.) Promotion of gingival healing following surgery.
B. n.
Phonetics. = alveolar n. 2. Now rare.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by place or organ > [noun] > alveolar
gingival1669
alveolar1874
1669 W. Holder Elem. Speech 83 Neither are we obliged to seek, nor can expect to find any exact method of nature in the Articulations of Vowels, (as e.g. to find them equally sorted into Gutturals,..Gingivals, and Labials).
1738 tr. D. Vairasse d'Allais Hist. Sevarambians v. 379 Gutturals, Palaticks, Nasals, Gingivals, Dentals, and Labials.
1834 J. M. McCulloch Man. Eng. Gram. i. 18 Thus, p, b, f, v, are named labials, or letters of the lip; s, z, dentals, or letters of the teeth; d, t, gingivals, or letters of the gums.
1874 W. Wright tr. C. P. Caspari Gram. Arabic Lang. (rev. ed.) I. i. 4 The gingivals..in uttering which the tongue is pressed against the gums.
1974 M. Vale tr. V. I. Bel'tyukov & A. D. Salakhova in Soviet Psychol. 12 114 Since children at this age do not yet have teeth, the dental sounds listed actually occur as the corresponding gingivals.
Compounds
gingival line n. †(a) Medicine (also Thompson's gingival line) a band of redness at the gum line, thought to be a sign of tuberculosis (obsolete); (b) Medicine a band of bluish or dark grey discolouration in this location, occurring as a sign of chronic heavy metal poisoning; (c) the line at which the gum is attached to a tooth; the margin of the gum; the gum line.
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1854 T. Thompson Clin. Lect. Pulmonary Consumption x. 152 (heading) Gingival streak.]
1859 Trans. New Jersey State Med. Soc. 93 Thompson's gingival line absent on the upper gums; seen on lower gums.
1863 Edinb. Med. Jrnl. 8 129 Lately I have seen a young man,..house-painter by occupation, and presenting the characteristic blue gingival line.
1899 Dental Cosmos 41 535 The axial surfaces slope from the gingival line to the occlusal surface.
1907 L. Brown in W. Osler & T. McCrae Mod. Med. III. x. 333 Myoidema and the gingival line have no diagnostic value, but demand a careful pulmonary examination.
1943 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 20 Mar. 356/2 The gingival lines of lead, bismuth, and mercury poisoning are due to the deposition of the sulphides the heavy metals in the dermis.
1959 Jrnl. Prosthetic Dentistry 4 593 The gingival line and labial tissue contours may be reproduced accurately.
2003 K. A. Hodsdon Demystifying Smiles ii. 37 The smile exposes almost all of the maxillary central incisors just to the gingival line.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1669