Home UK English lachrymal

Meaning of lachrymal in English:

lachrymal

(also lacrimal, lacrymal)

Pronunciation /ˈlakrɪm(ə)l/

Translate lachrymal into Spanish

adjective

  • 1formal, literary Connected with weeping or tears.

    • ‘that hysterical, then lachrymal, then guilt-ridden hour’

  • 2

    (also lacrimal)
    Physiology Anatomy
    Concerned with the secretion of tears.

    ‘lacrimal cells’
    • ‘From the lacrimal sacs, tears move down through the nasolacrimal duct and drain into the back of the nose.’
    • ‘A simple and easy-to-perform test assessing the function of the lacrimal glands is the Schirmer's test.’
    • ‘This will consequently elevate the lacrimal punctum into a more favourable position so that the tear film will drain into it more readily.’
    • ‘During the last few years the optical fibers used in lachrymal duct endoscopy have been changed.’
    • ‘The examination of 620 patients with affection of the salivary and lacrymal glands revealed sarcoidosis in 19 of them.’

noun

  • 1

    (also lacrimal, lacrimal bone)
    Anatomy
    A small bone forming part of the eye socket.

    ‘The area corresponding to the lacrimals, prefrontals and posterior nasals is difficult to recognise.’
    • ‘The lacrimal bones are thin bones that form the anterior portion of the medial walls of the individual orbits.’
    • ‘The lacrimal bone is a small and fragile bone at the inner orbit of the eye through which the lacrimal duct runs.’
    • ‘Finally a naso-orbital lesion would emerge through a defect between the frontal and the lacrimal bones.’
    • ‘The lacrimal bones are the smallest and most fragile of the cranial bones.’

  • 2

    short for lachrymal vase

Origin

Late Middle English (in lachrymal (sense 2 of the adjective)): from medieval Latin lachrymalis, from Latin lacrima ‘tear’.