philtrum

English

WOTD – 4 March 2012

The philtrum

Alternative forms

• filtrum

Etymology

Borrowed from the Latin philtrum (“a love potion”), from Ancient Greek φῐ́λτρον (phĭ́ltron, “a love charm; the dimple in the upper lip”). Doublet of philter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪl.tɹəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

philtrum (plural philtra or philtrums)

1. (anatomy) The shallow vertical groove running from the nasal septum to the center of the upper lip.

   Synonym: infranasal depression

   • 2005, M. L. Kulkarni, Physical Examination of Children (Clinical Methods in Paediatrics; 2B)‎^[1], India: Jaypee Brothers, page 142:

     Oral intercommissural distance (mouth width) and philtrum length are useful measurements for diagnosis of wide or large mouth (macrostomia), small mouth (microstomia), long philtrum and short philtrum and form ‘good handles’ in syndromic delineation.

   • 2007, Loren J. Borud, Arin K. Greene, “Chapter 24: Lip Reconstruction”, in Josef E. Fischer, Kirby I. Bland, Mark P. Callery, editors, Mastery of Surgery‎^[2], 5th edition, volume 1, page 301, column 3:

     Upper lip reconstruction is more difficult than lower lip reconstruction because the upper lip has a central structure, the philtrum. […] Wounds adjacent to the philtrum that are closed primarily may shift the philtrum to the affected side. However, with time, the philtrum will tend to return to its midline position.

   • 2011, Hrishikesh Dubey, Mysteries of Vedic Face Reading‎^[3], Categorization of the Philtrum According to Its Length:

     If the philtrum is long and deep, then these people are very romantic, sexual, lively and friendly.

2. (zootomy) The junction between the two halves of an animal's upper lip or nose.

Derived terms

• jestrum

Translations

shallow vertical groove

• Arabic: نَثْرَة f (naṯra)
• Catalan: filtre (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 人中 (zh) (rénzhōng)

• Danish: philtrum n
• Finnish: filtrum (fi)
• French: sillon naso-labial m, philtrum (fr) m
• German: Oberlippenrinne f, Philtrum (de) n
• Greek: φίλτρο (el) n (fíltro)

  Ancient: φίλτρον n (phíltron)

• Icelandic: vinulág (is) f, (suggested term) miðsnesisgróf f, (suggested term) efrivararrenna f
• Irish: filtream m
• Italian: filtro (it) m
• Japanese: 人中穴 (じんちゅうけつ, jinchūketsu), 人中 (ja) (じんちゅう, jinchū)
• Korean: 인중(人中) (ko) (injung)
• Mongolian: хүн (mn) (xün)
• Norwegian: philtrum m
• Persian: نثرت (nasarat), بوسه‌گاه (fa) (buse-gâh), جویک لب (juyak-e lab)
• Polish: rynienka podnosowa f
• Portuguese: sulco nasolabial m, filtro labial m
• Russian: губно́й желобо́к (ru) m (gubnój želobók), подносово́й желобо́к m (podnosovój želobók), фильтр (ru) m (filʹtr)
• Spanish: surco nasolabial m
• Vietnamese: nhân trung (vi) (人中)

See also

• Cupid's bow

References

• “philtrum”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “philtrum”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• Henry Gray (1918) “XII. Surface Anatomy and Surface Markings”, in Anatomy of the Human Body‎^[4], 2. Surface Markings of Special Regions of the Head and Neck

French

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek φίλτρον (phíltron), from φιλέω (philéō, “to love, to kiss”).

Noun

philtrum m (plural philtrums)

1. philtrum

Further reading

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

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φῐ́λτρον (phĭ́ltron, “a love charm”), derived from φῐλέω (phĭléō, “to love; to kiss”) +‎ -τρον (-tron, instrument noun suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰil.trum/, [ˈpʰɪɫ̪t̪rʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfil.trum/, [ˈfil̪t̪rum]

Noun

philtrum n (genitive philtrī); second declension

1. (poetic, in the plural) love potion, philter

Inflection

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	philtrum	philtra
genitive	philtrī	philtrōrum
dative	philtrō	philtrīs
accusative	philtrum	philtra
ablative	philtrō	philtrīs
vocative	philtrum	philtra

Descendants

• → English: philter, philtrum
• French: feutre
• → Italian: filtro
• Sicilian: firtru
• → French: philtre (learned)

References

• “philtrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• philtrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.