Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Mastoid
/ˈmæstɔɪd/adjective
Relating to the bony bump behind the ear.
The Greek roots
μαστός
mastós
breast, nipple
εἶδος
eîdos
form, shape
Literally: “breast shaped”
The story of the word
The bone was named for its nipple-like bulge, which you can feel by pressing behind your earlobe. The same root gives mastitis and mastectomy. It also gives the mastodon: early nineteenth-century anatomists saw nipple-shaped cusps on the fossil teeth and named the whole animal breast-tooth.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → English
- First recorded
- 18th century
Same family
mastectomymastitismastodon
In a sentence
Before antibiotics, an ear infection could eat into the mastoid and kill.