Odontometry

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The scientific measurement of the size, shape and dimensions of teeth, often used in anthropology and dentistry
2. The branch of study concerned with measuring teeth to compare species, populations or individuals
3. Quantitative analysis of tooth dimensions, applied in fields such as palaeontology, forensic science and dental research

Etymology: The term joins two Greek elements: "odous" (genitive "odontos"), meaning tooth, and "metron," meaning measure, the same root that gives English "meter." Its ancient Greek roots are ordinary, but the compound itself is a modern scientific coinage, built the way anatomists and naturalists formed most technical vocabulary from classical parts. The Greek "odous" survives in several familiar English words. "Orthodontics" combines it with "orthos," meaning straight or correct, and "mastodon" pairs it with "mastos," breast, because the extinct elephant's molars have cusps that resemble nipples. Cuvier gave the animal that name, so the tooth root has been fossilized in scientific vocabulary for two centuries. Measuring teeth, the practice this term names, is what allows palaeontologists and dentists to compare species and individuals by their tooth sizes.