maxilla

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   either of the paired bones forming the upper jaw and supporting the upper teeth in vertebrates

   The scan revealed a fracture of the left maxilla below the eye socket.

2. 2
   noun

   one of the paired mouthparts behind the mandibles in many arthropods, used to handle or taste food

   The insect used each maxilla to guide food toward its mouth.

Borrowed from Latin maxilla, 'jawbone or jaw,' probably a diminutive related to mala, 'cheekbone or jaw.' Human anatomy uses it for the paired upper-jaw bones; zoology uses the same term for paired feeding appendages in arthropods.

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