In anatomy, a meatus (, mee-AY-təs, pl.: meatus or meatuses) is a natural body opening or canal.
Meatus may refer to:
- the external acoustic meatus, the opening of the ear canal
- the internal auditory meatus, a canal in the temporal bone of the skull
- the urinary meatus, which is the opening of the urethra, situated on the glans penis in males and in the vulval vestibule in females
- one of three nasal meatuses: the superior meatus, middle meatus and inferior meatus; each are passages through the nasal cavity within the skull
(The plural forms of "meatus" are: meatus, as a Latin form (of the fourth declension noun class, which the word belongs to); or meatuses, as a normally derived English plural; or often, and incorrectly, meati, by false analogy with the very common Latin -us/-i forms (such as alumnus/alumni), i.e., the second declension noun class.)
See also
- Meatal stenosis
- Fossa (anatomy)
- Foramen
References
