dentition

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the number, kinds, and arrangement of teeth in a person or animal

   The fossil's dentition identifies it as a plant-eating primate.

2. 2
   noun

   the development and eruption of teeth through the gums

   The infant's first dentition was nearly complete by the age of three.

From Latin dentitio, 'teething,' from dentire, 'to cut teeth,' based on dens, dentis, 'tooth.' Zoology and anthropology broadened the term from tooth eruption to the characteristic number and arrangement of an organism's teeth.

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