trigeminus

English

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

Borrowed from Latin trigeminus (“threefold, triple, triform”), clipping of nervus trigeminus (“triple nerve”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /tɹaɪˈd͡ʒɛm.ən.əs/
• Rhymes: -ɛmɪnəs

Noun

trigeminus (plural trigemini)

1. (neuroanatomy) Alternative form of trigeminal nerve.

References

• “trigeminus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “trigeminus nerve”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Alternative forms

• tergeminus (poetic)

Etymology

From tri- (“three”) +‎ geminus (“twinborn; paired, double, twofold”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /triˈɡe.mi.nus/, [t̪rɪˈɡɛmɪnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /triˈd͡ʒe.mi.nus/, [t̪riˈd͡ʒɛːminus]

Adjective

trigeminus (feminine trigemina, neuter trigeminum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (literal) three born at a birth
2. (transferred sense, chiefly poetic) threefold, triple, triform

   Synonym: triplex

Inflection

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	trigeminus	trigemina	trigeminum		trigeminī	trigeminae	trigemina
Genitive	trigeminī	trigeminae	trigeminī		trigeminōrum	trigeminārum	trigeminōrum
Dative	trigeminō		trigeminō		trigeminīs
Accusative	trigeminum	trigeminam	trigeminum		trigeminōs	trigeminās	trigemina
Ablative	trigeminō	trigeminā	trigeminō		trigeminīs
Vocative	trigemine	trigemina	trigeminum		trigeminī	trigeminae	trigemina

Derived terms

• Porta Trigemina
• trigeminō (verb)

Related terms

• bigeminus
• centumgeminus
• quadrigeminus
• septemgeminus

Descendants

• → Catalan: trigemin
• → English: trigeminus
• ⇒ English: trigeminal

References

• “trigeminus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press