sphincter

English

Etymology

From Middle French sphincter, from Late Latin sphincter, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek σφιγκτήρ (sphinktḗr, “band, contractile muscle”), from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “I bind tight”). Compare sphinx, "the strangler".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsfɪŋktə/

Noun

sphincter (plural sphincters)

1. (anatomy) A ringlike band of muscle that surrounds a bodily opening, constricting and relaxing as required for normal physiological functioning.

   the sphincter of the bladder

   the iris sphincter in the eye

   • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Faber & Faber, 2004: Avignon Quintet), page 836:

     She decided that she would force him to climax first by the sheer strength of her young animal control, the strength of her sphincters […]

   1. (in particular) The internal or external anal sphincter, to the extent these are distinguished as two separate entities.

Synonyms

• anatomical sphincter

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun "sphincter"

• anal sphincter
• lower esophageal sphincter

• pyloric sphincter
• sphincteral

• urethral sphincter
• upper esophageal sphincter

Related terms

• sphinx

Translations

band of muscle

• Afrikaans: sluitspier
• Arabic: عَاصِرَة f (ʕāṣira)
• Aragonese: esfíncter m
• Basque: esfinter
• Belarusian: сфі́нктар m (sfínktar)
• Bulgarian: сфи́нктер m (sfínkter)
• Catalan: esfínter m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 括約肌／括约肌 (zh) (kuòyuējī), 括约肌 (zh) (kuòyuējī)

• Czech: svěrač (cs) m
• Danish: lukkemuskel (da) c
• Dutch: sfincter (nl) m,sluitspier (nl)
• Esperanto: sfinktero
• Estonian: sulgurlihas, ringlihas
• Faroese: ringvøddi m
• Finnish: sulkijalihas (fi)
• French: sphincter (fr) m
• Galician: esfínter m
• German: Schließmuskel (de) m, Sphinkter (de) m
• Greek: σφιγκτήρας (el) m (sfigktíras)

  Ancient: σφιγκτήρ m (sphinktḗr)

• Hungarian: záróizom (hu)
• Icelandic: hringvöðvi m
• Ido: sfintero (io)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: sfingter (id)
• Italian: sfintere m
• Japanese: 括約筋 (かつやくきん, katsuyakukin)
• Korean: 괄약근 (ko) (gwaryakgeun) (括約筋 (ko))
• Kurdish: ,
• Macedonian: сфинктер m (sfinkter)
• Maori: takini
• Persian: اسفنکتر (esfankter)
• Polish: zwieracz (pl) m
• Portuguese: esfíncter (pt) m
• Russian: сфи́нктер (ru) m (sfínktɛr)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сфинктер m

  Roman: sfinkter (sh) m

• Slovak: zvierač m
• Slovene: zapiralka f
• Spanish: esfínter (es) m
• Swedish: ringmuskel, sfinkter c
• Turkish: büzgen (tr)
• Ukrainian: сфі́нктер m (sfínkter)
• Vietnamese: cơ thắt
• Volapük: färmükamamuskul
• West Frisian: slútspier

See also

• cardia

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek σφιγκτήρ (sphinktḗr), from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “to bind tight”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sfɛ̃k.tɛʁ/

Noun

sphincter m (plural sphincters)

1. (anatomy) sphincter

Further reading

• “sphincter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.