- The part of the face between the eyebrows, the normal hairline, and the temples.
- The front part of something.
[Middle English forhed, from Old English forhēafod : for-, fore- + hēafod, head; see head.]
forehead
Did you mean: forehead, frontal bone
Dictionary:
fore·head (fôr'hĕd', -ĭd, fŏr'-)  |
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| World of the Body: forehead |
The forehead, or brow, has been seen, literally and figuratively, as a place of expression. As Lord Byron remarked, ‘Thy calm clear brow, Wherein is glass'd serenity of soul …’ Ancient Egyptian women traced designs in henna on their temples. A furrowed brow marks distress or concern; being beetle-browed means one is of bad temper and surly, and a modest or meek person is ‘tender-foreheaded’.
The form of the forehead is also believed to reflect the character of a person. A high brow, or being ‘high-brow (ed) ’, indicates a superior intellect and sophistication; a low brow or prominent ridge above the eyes, on the other hand, is associated with primitive species of humanity, like the Neanderthal, and hence is a sign of primitivism and ignorance.
The forehead or brow is also a significant location in Christianity. Being cast from the Garden of Eden, Adam was to earn his living ‘by the sweat of his brow’. Baptism, one of the sacraments of the Christian Church, may involve either total submersion, or simply the pouring of baptismal water over the forehead. In early Christianity, grievous sinners wore sackcloths and were covered with ashes during Lent as a sign of their penitence; around the ninth century, faithful Christians in general began to put ashes on their foreheads on the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, as a reminder of their need for penitence. These ashes came from the burned palm leaves from the previous Palm Sunday. Today, Roman Catholics receive the mark of a cross of their foreheads on Ash Wednesday.
The forehead is a site of spirituality in other religions, too. The centre of the forehead in Hindu tradition is the location of a third eye, a location of spiritual insight. Hindu gods are also frequently represented with a third eye in the middle of their foreheads, representing their divinity. Muslims touch their foreheads to the floor when bowing toward Mecca, and some Tibetan meditation practices focus on the centre of the forehead.
Anatomically, the forehead is formed by part of the frontal bone of the skull, whose shape is likened by Gray's Anatomy to that of a cockle-shell — rounded rim above; below, a central projection forming the bony basis of the root of the nose, and low arches at each side over the eyes; the smooth convexity accommodating the frontal lobes of the underlying brain. The bone of the forehead is covered by a continuation of the layers of the scalp: a sheet of muscle under the forehead skin is joined above to a fibrous sheet which covers the skull and is in turn connected to muscle at the back of the head. Thus the scalp can be shifted back and forth, the brow furrowed, the eyebrows raised and lowered — contributing to a whole range of facial expression. The paired frontal sinuses are cavities in the frontal bone which drain down into the nose, and draw unwelcome attention to one's forehead if afflicted by sinusitis.
— Sarah Goodfellow, Sheila Jennett
| Dental Dictionary: forehead |
n
That portion of the face directly above the orbits and extending posteriorly/superiorly to the hair line or crown of the head.
| Veterinary Dictionary: forehead |
The region between the eyes and the ears; supported by the frontal and parietal bones.
- domed f. — forehead bulges; may be soft and fluid-filled; a problem only in neonates.
| Word Tutor: forehead |
IN BRIEF: The upper part of the face, between the eyes and the hair.
There is a growing strength in women, but it is in the forehead, not in the forearm.
— Beverly Sills.
| Wikipedia: Forehead |
| Forehead | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| System | Unknown, none |
| Artery | supraorbital, supratrochlear |
| Vein | supraorbital, frontal |
| Nerve | trigeminal, facial |
| MeSH | Forehead |
In human anatomy, the forehead is the fore part of the head. It is, formally, an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the forehead is marked by the supraorbital ridge, the bone feature of the skull above the eyes. The two sides of the forehead are marked by the temporal ridge, a bone feature that links the supraorbital ridge to the coronal suture line and beyond.[1][2]
Contents |
Anatomy
The forehead comprises, and the musculature and skin of the forehead lies above, the portion of the frontal bone of the skull that is known as the squama frontalis, the plate-like portion of the frontal bone.[3][4]
The sensory nerves of the forehead connect to the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve and the cervical plexus, and lie within the subcutaneous fat. The motor nerves of the forehead connect to the facial nerve.[2]
The musculature of the forehead comprises the Occipitofrontalis, Procerus, and Corrugator supercilii muscles, all of which are controlled by the temporal branch of the facial nerve.[2]
Blood supply to the forehead is via the left and right superorbital, supertrochealar, and anterior branches of the temporal artery.[2]
The ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve, the supraorbital nerve, divides at the orbital rim into two parts in the forehead. One part, the superficial division, runs over the surface of the Occipitofrontalis muscle. This provides sensation for the skin of the forehead, and for the front (anterior) edge of the scalp. The other part, the deep division, runs into the Occipitofrontalis muscle and provides frontoparietal sensation.[1]
Physiognomy
In physiognomy and phrenology, the shape of the forehead was taken to symbolise intellect and inteligence. "Animals, even the most intelligent of them,", wrote Samuel R. Wells in 1942, "can hardly be said to have any forehead at all, and in natural total idiots it is very diminished".[5]
pseudo-Aristotle, in Physiognomica, stated that the forehead is governed by Mars.[6] A low and little forehead denoted magananimity, boldness, and confidence; a fleshy and wrinkle-free forehead, litigiousness, vanity, deceit, and contentiousness; a sharp forehead, weakness and fickleness; a wrinkled forehead, great spirit and wit yet poor fortune; a round forehead, virtue and good understanding; a full lagre forehead, boldness, malice, boundary issues, and high spirit; and a long high forehead, honesty, weakness, simplicity, and poor fortune.[6]
Expressions
The muscles of the forehead help to form facial expressions. There are four basic motions, which can occur individually or in combination to form different expressions. The Occipitofrontalis muscles can raise the eyebrows, either together or singly, forming expressions of surprise and quizzicality. The Corrugator supercilii muscles can pull the eyebrows inwards and down, forming a frown. The Procerus muscles can pull down the centre portions of the eyebrows.[7]
Wrinkles
The movements of the muscles in the forehead produce characteristic wrinkles in the skin. The Occipitofrontalis muscles produce the transverse wrinkles across the width of the forehead, and the Corrugator supercilii muscles produce vertical wrinkles between the eyebrows above the nose. The Procerus muscles cause the nose to wrinkle.[7]
References
- ^ a b David M. Knize and Mel Drisko (2001). The Forehead and Temporal Fossa: Anatomy and Technique. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 4. ISBN 0781720745.
- ^ a b c d Valencia D. Thomas, Wendy Long Mitchell, Neil A. Swanson, Thomas E. Rohrer, and Ken K. Lee (2007). "Reconstructive surgery of Skin Cancer defects". in Keyvan Nouri. Skin Cancer. McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 523. ISBN 0071472568.
- ^ Diane H. Gronefeld (1998). Radiographic anatomy & positioning: an integrated approach. McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 321. ISBN 0838582389.
- ^ Elaine Nicpon Marieb and Katja Hoehn (2007). Human anatomy & physiology (7th ed.). Pearson Education. pp. 204. ISBN 0321372948.
- ^ Samuel R. Wells (1998). "The Forehead". New Physiognomy Or Signs of Character as Manifested Through Temperament and External Forms and Especially in the Human Face Divine (reprint ed.). Kessinger Publishing. pp. 260. ISBN 0766103579.
- ^ a b Aristotle (1828). William Salmon. ed. The Works of Aristotle. New England. pp. 71.
- ^ a b Nigel Palastanga, Derek Field, and Roger Soames (2006). "Head and Brain". Anatomy and human movement (5th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 645–646. ISBN 0750688149.
See also
External links
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| Translations: Forehead |
Nederlands (Dutch)
voorhoofd, voorste deel
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μέτωπο, κούτελο
Português (Portuguese)
n. - testa (f) (Anat.)
Русский (Russian)
лоб, передовой забой
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
额, 前部, 前额
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 額, 前部, 前額
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) جبين
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Did you mean: forehead, frontal bone
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| World of the Body. The Oxford Companion to the Body. Copyright © 2001, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Dental Dictionary. Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved. Read more |
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