occipitaladj.n.
/ɒkˈsɪpᵻtl/, U.S. /ɑkˈsɪpᵻdl/ Chiefly Anatomy and Zoology.
A. adj.† 2. Having a prominent occiput; (supposedly) having the back of the head more developed than the front. Obsolete.
1. Of, relating to, or situated in or on the occiput or back part of the head. Also: of or relating to the occipital bone or occipital lobe (see sense B. 3).
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > back of head > [adjective]
occipitial?a1425
occipital?1541
superoccipital1832
supero-occipital1862
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. D ivv The seconde bone of the heade in the hyndre parte is called Occipitall.
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. 9/3 A blowe in the occipitalle parte of the heade.
1679 in G. Hickes Spirit of Popery (1680) 58 Insomuch that the whole Occipital bone was shattered all in pieces.
1732 Philos. Trans. 1731–2 (Royal Soc.) 37 328 With the same flat Button-end of the Probe, I pushed slightly towards the Brain in the Head, upon that End of the Medulla Oblongata appearing in the occipital Hole of the Skull; upon which the eyes were convulsed.
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy II. xix. 168 In the cellulæ of the occipital parts of the cerebellum.
1768 Philos. Trans. 1767 (Royal Soc.) 57 5 It doubtless consisted of the occipital and perhaps frontal muscles, drawn towards each other.
1815 J. G. Spurzheim Physiognom. Syst. iii. 199 The occipital angle..is formed by a horizontal line drawn from the inferior edge of the orbit to the posterior edge of the occipital foramen.
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. III. xxix. 115 The head is armed with three occipital spines.
1831 R. Knox tr. H. Cloquet Syst. Human Anat. (ed. 2) 99 The occipital hole may be considered as being the commencement of the spinal canal.
1840 G. V. Ellis Demonstr. Anat. 3 The occipital artery is the large trunk which occupies the occipital region of the head, with the branches of the great occipital nerve.
1874 E. Coues Birds Northwest 281 That the young males have more or less of the vertex red or yellow, instead of an occipital crescent of scarlet.
1892 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon O[ccipital] foramen, the Foramen magnum.
1968 Jrnl. Pediatrics 73 789/2 The next morning she had partially recovered, but an electroencephalogram disclosed grossly abnormal changes with continuous high voltage and slow to very slow activity in both occipital leads.
1969 R. F. Chapman Insects i, 5 Behind the compound eyes is the occipital sulcus.
1990 Field Feb. 77/1 There are many physical differences between a Kerry Beagle and a foxhound. The former is longer-faced and has a pronounced occipital lump on the head.
1991 NeuroReport 2 225/2 An occipital craniotomy was done to expose the dorsal surface of the medulla.
2001 P. Caldwell Sleep Really Well (2003) i. 10 When we're awake, the eyes see various patterns of light and dark, and these impulses are sent to a part of the brain, the occipital cortex, to be registered as objects and activities.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > types of head > [adjective] > having
headedOE
cop-headed1519
small-headedc1540
jolt-headed1552
chuff-headed1563
ass-headed1584
two-headed1596
golden-headed1598
hard-headed1601
big-headed1614
bicipitous1646
buffle-headed1654
female-headed1655
heavy-headed1684
bullet-headed1699
jolter-headed1748
pinheaded1771
pigheaded1774
thin-headed1804
roundhead1842
bulbous-headed1860
blob-headed1865
occipital1873
fat-headed1883
mesopic1885
peanut-headed1906
dome-headed1910
1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VI. 82 Occipital Owl.
1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma ix. 277 A poor ill-endowed Semite, belonging to the occipital races.
1888 J. Liebe tr. E. M. Burnouf Sci. of Relig. 190 The occipital races [Fr. races occipitales]: that is to say, those whose hinder part of the head is more developed than the front.
B. n.† 2. The occipital muscle. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.† 3. Zoology. Either of a pair of plates on the occipital region in certain snakes. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
1. The occipital bone.
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the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > skull > parts of skull > [noun] > back of skull
lambda?a1425
occiput1578
noddle-bone1611
noll-bone1615
occipital1861
1726 W. Cheselden Anat. Human Body (ed. 3) ii. 17 Sutura lambdoidalis, joins the back part of the Ossa Bregmatis, or parietal bones, to the upper part of the occipital.
1740 J. Sparrow tr. H. F. Le Dran Observ. Surg. (ed. 2) xviii. 68 The Foramen of the Occipital [Fr. trou occipital].
1861 Nat. Hist. Rev. 1 157 The superior semicircular ridges of the occipital.
1881 St. G. Mivart Cat 60 The occipital, two parietals, two frontals, two temporals, the sphenoid, the presphenoid, the ethmoid—which ten bones compose the cranium, or skull proper.
1955 Times 6 Aug. 8/4 This articulates exactly with the left parietal and occipital (base of the skull) found by Mr. Marston 20 years ago.
2003 Nature 12 June 693/1 In the angulation and transverse ridge of the occipital, there is also an intriguing resemblance to fossils..that are assigned to H. heidelbergensis or H. rhodesiensis.
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the world > life > the body > structural parts > muscle > muscles of specific parts > [noun] > occipital muscle
occipital muscle1801
epicranium1807
occipitofrontal1811
occipital1890
1890 Cent. Dict. Occipital,..3. The occipitalis muscle.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > [noun] > parts of
anteocular1848
zygantrum1854
zygosphene1854
preocular1859
occipital1890
hemipenis1909
1890 Cent. Dict. Occipital,..2. In Herpetol., one of a pair of plates or scutes upon the occiput of many serpents.
Compounds
occipital bone n. Anatomy the unpaired bone that forms the back and base of the skull, enclosing the foramen magnum and articulating with the first vertebra.
ΚΠ
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. D ivv The seconde bone of the heade in the hyndre parte is called Occipitall.]
1679 in G. Hickes Spirit of Popery (1680) 58 The whole Occipital bone was shattered all in pieces.
1699 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 21 133 The second ligament (he says) is..fastned above to the middle of the elongation of the occipital-bone.
1726 A. Monro Anat. Humane Bones 106 We remark on the occipital Bone a small Rising and semilunated Excavation of each Side.
1862 J. Richardson et al. Mus. Nat. Hist. 3/2 The occipital bone, which forms the base of the skull,..is perforated by the large aperture for the passage of the spinal cord.
1986 A. Ghosh Circle of Reason I. i. 27 I could try massaging him on the occipital bone where the emotions and sentiments are.
occipital condyle n. Anatomy and Zoology either of two prominences on the undersurface of the occipital bone that articulate with the first vertebra.
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1841 R. Owen in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. III. 308/1 The groove between the occipital condyle and the exoccipital process.
1872 H. A. Nicholson Man. Palæontol. 302 In the Amphibians..and in the Mammals, there are two ‘occipital condyles’, by which the skull is jointed to the neck.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xx. 546 The skull has great mobility on its single occipital condyle (another reptilian feature).
1994 Nature 27 Apr. 508/1 Only post-Devonian tetrapods possess indisputably terrestrial adaptations, such as a strengthened vertebral column, and occipital condyles instead of a notochordal support for the skull.
occipital lobe n. Anatomy the posterior part of the cerebral hemisphere.
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1861 Proc. Zool. Soc. 257 Dividing the hemisphere into five lobes (frontal, parietal, median, temporal and occipital).
1862 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 152 188 As it forms the line of demarcation between the parietal and occipital lobes, it has received the name of occipito-parietal.
1969 Jrnl. Pediatrics 74 926/2 Sulfatides purified from occipital lobe white matter had a hydroxy to nonhydroxy fatty acid ratio of 0.35.
1989 Brain 112 977 Pathological examination of the excised tissue indicated extensive neuronal loss and gliosis in the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes.
occipital muscle n. Anatomy now rare the posterior part of the occipitofrontalis muscle, which arises from the occipital bone.
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the world > life > the body > structural parts > muscle > muscles of specific parts > [noun] > occipital muscle
occipital muscle1801
epicranium1807
occipitofrontal1811
occipital1890
1734 G. Douglas tr. J. B. Winslow Anat. Expos. I. §iii. 21 The Trapezius..is fixed in the Superior Transverse Line of the Os Occipitis..reaching to the Musculus Occipitalis.]
1801 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 91 264 The occipital muscle, composed of longitudinal fibres.
1855 C. Neidhard in B. L. Hill & J. G. Hunt Homeopathic Pract. Surg. 296 The cephalic rheumatism generally attacks only one side of the head, shooting along the temporal and occipital muscles, and not unfrequently coryza is present.
1892 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon O[ccipital] muscle, the hinder part of the occipito-frontalis muscle; it is flat and thin..[and] expands over the outer side of the occiput.
1959 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 242 263 The occipital muscles combine with the depressor to lift the skull.
1994 Aesthetic Plastic Surg. 18 373 The idea is to detach the muscles from the periorbital attachment, forcing the occipital muscle to pull the forehead tissue back and thus elevating the eyebrows.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.?1541