Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

meatus

/miˈeɪ.təs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.76 in modern English

Syllables: mea-tus
IPA: /miˈeɪ.təs/

8

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A tubular opening or passage leading to the interior of the body.

noun

Ellipsis of acoustic meatus, the passage leading into the ear.

Example Sentences

"The urinary meatus is the opening of the urethra, situated on the glans penis in males, and in the vulva in females."
"The illness. It came out of nowhere. His breathing all of a sudden started hurting the back of his throat. Then that overfull heat in various cranial meatus."
"The vibrissae are coarse hairs whose follicles are located just within the nasal meatus."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin meātus (“a going, passing; a way, path, passage”).

Word Breakdown

Root: *mey- (change)

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /miˈeɪ.təs/
British English: /miˈeɪ.təs/

Inflected Forms

meatuses (plural)

Derived Forms

meatal meatic permeate pseudomeatus

Phrases

auditory meatus meato- urethral meatus ear canal

Frequently Paired Words

ear canal foramen

Synonyms

ear canal

Rhymes With

status apparatus hiatus stratus comitatus cincinnatus quadratus latus flatus nimbostratus afflatus altostratus

Questions

How do you pronounce meatus?: The recorded pronunciation is /miˈeɪ.təs/.
What does meatus mean?: A tubular opening or passage leading to the interior of the body.
Where does meatus come from?: Learned borrowing from Latin meātus (“a going, passing; a way, path, passage”).

How to pronounce meatus

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “meatus”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/miˈeɪ.təs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “meatus”.
Repeat and practice — Say “meatus” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.