tensor veli palatini

Borrowed from New Latin tensor vēlī palātīnī (“tensor of the palatine veil”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛn.sɚ ˌviˌlaɪ ˌpæl.əˈtaɪˌnaɪ/

tensor veli palatini (plural tensores veli palatini)

1. (anatomy) A ribbonlike muscle of the palate that arises from the scaphoid fossa, from the spine of the sphenoid bone, and from the lateral cartilaginous wall of the Eustachian tube, that is attached by a tendon which hooks around the pterygoid plate of the sphenoid bone to insert especially into the soft palate, and that acts especially to tense the soft palate.

   Hypernym: tensor

   Coordinate terms: tensor fasciae latae, tensor tympani

• “tensor veli palatini”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.