parietal

adjective

pa·ri·e·tal | \pə-ˈrī-ə-tᵊl

Definition of parietal

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : of or relating to the walls of a part or cavity

b : of, relating to, or located near or within the parietal bone or parietal lobe of the head

2 : attached to the main wall rather than the axis or a cross wall of a plant ovary —used of an ovule or a placenta

3 dated : of or relating to college living or its regulation especially : of or relating to parietals (see parietal entry 2 sense 2) All of this takes place in a residential environment no longer constrained by the parietal hours that the older set of today's parents will recall. One of the signature changes in the student revolt of the late sixties/early seventies was the end not only of curfew hours for residence halls but also of housing separated by sex. — Barrett Seaman

parietal

noun

Definition of parietal (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : a parietal part (such as a bone, scale, or plate)

2 parietals plural, dated : the regulations governing the visiting privileges of members of the opposite sex in campus dormitories

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Did You Know?

Adjective

Fifteenth-century scientists first used "parietal" (from Latin paries, meaning "wall of a cavity or hollow organ") to describe a pair of bones of the roof of the skull between the frontal and posterior bone. Later, "parietal" was also applied to structures connected to or found in the same general area as these bones; the parietal lobe, for example, is the middle division of each hemisphere of the brain. In the 19th century, botanists adopted "parietal" as a word for ovules and placentas attached to the walls of plant ovaries. It was also in the 19th century that "parietal" began to be heard on college campuses, outside of the classroom; in 1837, Harvard College established the Parietal Committee to be in charge of "all offences against good order and decorum within the walls."

Examples of parietal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Cortical folding appears to decrease with age across large swaths of the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes in both young people with autism and controls. — Rachel Zamzow, Scientific American, "Brains of Children with Autism Show Unusual Folding Patterns," 9 July 2018 CT scan images of the skull roof (frontal bone in pink, parietal in green) a chicken, the birdlike dinosaur Zanabazar, the primitive dinosaur Herrerasaurus, and Proterosuchus. — Matt Blitz, Popular Mechanics, "The Real Science of Bringing Back the Dinosaurs," 20 June 2018 When the study subjects who had pledged to spend money made generous picks, the fM.R.I. scans showed greater activity in a portion of the brain, the temporo-parietal junction, associated with altruism. — Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, "Giving Proof," 14 Sep. 2017 Neuroimaging research suggests that dialogue in a story activates a part of the brain known as the right temporo-parietal junction, a key region for what’s called theory of mind, or the ability to attribute mental and emotional states to others. — Malia Wollan, New York Times, "How to Read Aloud to Children," 16 June 2017 H2 blockers stop the action of histamine, which stimulates parietal cells to produce hydrochloric acid. — Bradley J. Fikes, chicagotribune.com, "Popular stomach acid blockers linked to higher death rates," 3 July 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

This video shows a monitor lizard skull fossil fragment with both the parietal and pineal foramina visible (highlighted in yellow). — Amina Khan, latimes.com, "If two eyes are good, four were even better for this lizard species," 3 Apr. 2018 These have two conventional eyes and two parietals, one derived from the parapineal and the other from the pineal. — The Economist, "Three-eyed lizards are not uncommon. Four-eyed ones are a novelty," 5 Apr. 2018 Another view of the monitor lizard skull fossil fragment, on which both the parietal and pineal foramina are visible (in yellow). — Amina Khan, latimes.com, "If two eyes are good, four were even better for this lizard species," 3 Apr. 2018 The other pathway makes use of networks located in the parietal and ventral regions that, among other things, are involved in autobiographical memory and the discovery of relevant visual stimuli. — Nicola Ballhausen, Scientific American, "Foresee and Forget: How to Remember the Future," 7 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'parietal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.