philtrum
Syllables: phil·trum/ˈfɪl.tɹəm/
philtrum noun: the shallow vertical groove running from the nasal septum to the center of the upper lip.
Noun
philtrum (plural philtra or philtrums)
- The shallow vertical groove running from the nasal septum to the center of the upper lip.
- Oral intercommissural distance (mouth width) and philtrum length are useful measurements for diagnosis of wide or large mouth (macrostomia), small mouth (microstomia), long philtrum and short philtrum and form ‘good handles’ in syndromic delineation.2005, M. L. Kulkarni, Physical Examination of Children (Clinical Methods in Paediatrics; 2B), India: Jaypee Brothers, archived from the original on 31 Oct 2020, page 142
- Upper lip reconstruction is more difficult than lower lip reconstruction because the upper lip has a central structure, the philtrum.[…]Wounds adjacent to the philtrum that are closed primarily may shift the philtrum to the affected side. However, with time, the philtrum will tend to return to its...2007, Loren J. Borud, Arin K. Greene, “Chapter 24: Lip Reconstruction”, in Josef E. Fischer, Kirby I. Bland, Mark P. Callery, editors, Mastery of Surgery, 5th edition, volume 1, page 301, column 3
- Synonyms:
- infranasal depression
- The junction between the two halves of an animal's upper lip or nose.
philtrum meaning in Tamil, Arabic, Persian and Vietnamese
philtrum in Tamil
- சற்று உள்வாங்கி காணப்படும்
philtrum in Arabic
- shallow vertical groove
- نَثْرَة naṯra
philtrum in Persian
- shallow vertical groove
- نثرت nasarat, بوسهگاه buse-gâh, جویک لب juyak-e lab
philtrum in Vietnamese
- shallow vertical groove
- nhân trung
Examples of philtrum in a sentence
- However, with time, the philtrum will tend to return to its midline position.2007, Loren J. Borud, Arin K. Greene, “Chapter 24: Lip Reconstruction”, in Josef E. Fischer, Kirby I. Bland, Mark P. Callery, editors...
- If the philtrum is long and deep, then these people are very romantic, sexual, lively and friendly.2011, Hrishikesh Dubey, Mysteries of Vedic Face Reading, Categorization of the Philtrum According to Its Length:
Synonyms of philtrum
Forms of philtrum
| plural | philtra |
|---|---|
| plural | philtrums |
| alternative form (archaic) | filtrum |
Origin of philtrum
Borrowed from the Latin philtrum (“a love potion”), from Ancient Greek φῐ́λτρον (phĭ́ltron, “a love charm; the dimple in the upper lip”). Doublet of philter.
Words formed from philtrum
Questions about philtrum
- What does philtrum mean?
- Philtrum means the shallow vertical groove running from the nasal septum to the center of the upper lip.
- What is philtrum in Tamil?
- Philtrum in Tamil is சற்று உள்வாங்கி காணப்படும். See Philtrum meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use philtrum in a sentence?
- However, with time, the philtrum will tend to return to its midline position.
- What part of speech is philtrum?
- Philtrum is a noun.
- How do you pronounce philtrum?
- Philtrum is pronounced /ˈfɪl.tɹəm/.
- What is the plural of philtrum?
- The plural of philtrum is philtra.
Words near philtrum in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: philtrum (page history and authors); philtrum (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-philtrum.wav.
Cite this entry: “philtrum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/philtrum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.