choana

US/ˈkoʊ.ən.ə/

choana noun: a funnel; a funnel-shaped opening.

Noun

choana (plural choanae)

A funnel; a funnel-shaped opening.
- Near-synonyms: infundibulum, pelvis, cornu
Synonyms:

infundibulum, pelvis, cornu
A pair of apertures towards the back of the nasal cavity, opening into the nasopharynx.
- The choanal glands of caecilians open at the margin of the choanae, whereas those of salamanders open deep within the choanae at the margin of the olfactory epithelium.1986, William E. Duellman, Biology of Amphibians, page 409
- Zuckerkandl (1893) gives far and away the greatest measurements for the choanae; Hopmann (1895) reported that in man the choana has a mean height of 27 mm, and a mean width of 13 mm (Merkel, 1896); in women it measures 25 x 12mm. These values agree closely with our findings.1989, Johannes Lang, translated by P. M. Stell, Clinical Anatomy of the Nose, Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinuses, page 103
Synonyms:

internal nostril, posterior naris, posterior nasal aperture

பின்நாசி

plural	choanae

Borrowing from New Latin choana, from Ancient Greek χοᾰ́νη (khoắnē, “funnel”), from χέω (khéō, “to pour”) + -ᾰ́νη (-ắnē, suffix for utensil names).

What does choana mean?: Choana means a funnel; a funnel-shaped opening.
What is choana in Tamil?: Choana in Tamil is பின்நாசி. See Choana meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is choana?: Choana is a noun.
How do you pronounce choana?: Choana is pronounced /ˈkoʊ.ən.ə/ (US).
What is the plural of choana?: The plural of choana is choanae.

Adapted from Wiktionary: choana (page history and authors); choana (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “choana.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/choana. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.