Meaning & use
superciliary arch
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablemedicaltechnical
The curved bony ridge of the forehead that lies just above each eye socket, under the eyebrow.
Grammar: Countable: one arch above each eye, so two arches.
Patterns
- the superciliary arch of the frontal bone
The fracture ran along the superciliary arch, just above her left eye.
Male skulls often have a more prominent superciliary arch than female ones.
The surgeon repaired a crack in the superciliary arch after the accident.
Word forms
| plural | superciliary arches |
|---|
Common combinations
- prominent superciliary arch
- The skull had a prominent superciliary arch.
- fracture of the superciliary arch
- A fracture of the superciliary arch needs imaging.
- palpate the superciliary arch
- The nurse gently palpated the superciliary arch to check for pain.
- superciliary arch ridge
- The superciliary arch ridge was well developed in the specimen.
Synonyms and how they differ
- brow ridge
- Brow ridge is the plain term used by anthropologists and general readers, while superciliary arch is the strict anatomical name.
- supraorbital ridge
- Supraorbital ridge is a related term for the bony area above the eye socket and is sometimes used for the whole ridge rather than a single arch.
Word family
- supercilium noun
- the eyebrow, in anatomy
- superciliary adjective
- relating to the eyebrow region
- supraorbital adjective
- above the eye socket
Commonly confused: superciliary arch or supercilious?
superciliary arch vs supercilious
Supercilious means acting superior and scornful; it comes from the same Latin root but has nothing to do with bones.
Practice
Which structure is the superciliary arch?
Choose one answer.
The superciliary arch is the bony ridge above each eye socket. The other options are in different parts of the head.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “superciliary arch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.