Zygomata

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A pair of bones forming the cheek and side of the skull
2. The bones that contribute to the structure of the face, specifically the cheeks
3. A set of facial bones providing support to the facial skeleton and forming part of the eye socket

Etymology: "Zygomata" is the plural of "zygoma," so the story belongs to the singular. The Greek "zugon" meant "yoke," the wooden crossbar that joined a pair of oxen so they could pull together. From it, Greek anatomists formed "zugoma," a term for something that joins or links, and it was applied to the cheekbone, the bone that bridges the face between the eye socket and the jaw. The metaphor is literal: the zygomatic bone links the facial skeleton to the temporal region of the skull, much as a yoke links two animals into one working unit. The word passed into Latin as "zygoma" and from there into English as a medical term, so the image of two beasts bound together survives in an everyday part of your face.