a. and sb. Phys. [mod. f. L. āla wing + SPHENOID, f. Gr. σφηνοειδής wedge-shaped.]

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  A.  adj. Forming the wing of the sphenoid bone at the base of the skull, or pertaining to this part.

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1846.  Owen, in Rep. Brit. Assoc., 179. ‘Alisphenoid’ seemed to retain most of the old anthropotomical term of ‘alæ majores,’ or wings ‘par excellence’ of the os sphenoideum.

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1864.  Huxley, in Reader, 19 March, 365/1. The constant union of the alisphenoid with the parietal bones.

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1881.  Mivart, Cat, 477. The passage thus enclosed is … called the alisphenoid canal.

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  B.  sb. An alisphenoid bone.

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1849–52.  Todd, Cycl. Anat. & Phys., IV. 1297/2. The longer basisphenoid, and shorter alisphenoids.

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1866.  Huxley, Preh. Rem. Caithn., 150. The sutures surrounding the alisphenoid … have been prematurely ossified in the Neanderthal skull.

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