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Temple (anatomy)

Temple (anatomy)

The temple is the side of the head behind the eyes

Human skull. Temporal bone is orange, and the temple overlies the temporal bone.
Latin	tempora
Artery	superficial temporal artery
Vein	superficial temporal vein
Dorlands/Elsevier	t_04/12793657

Temple indicates the side of the head behind the eyes. The bone beneath is the temporal bone.

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Anatomy

Cladists classify land vertebrates based on the presence of an upper hole, a lower hole, both, or neither in the cover of dermal bone which formerly covered the temporalis muscle. Those with no holes are called anapsida. The muscle whose origin is the temple and whose insertion is the jaw is the temporalis muscle. The brain has a lobe, called the temporal lobe.

Etymology

This use of temple is a separate etymology than the word "temple" for "place of worship". Both come from Latin, but the word for the place of worship comes from templum, whereas the word for the part of the head comes from Vulgar Latin *tempula, modified from tempora, plural form ("both temples") of tempus, a word that meant both "time" and the part of the head. Due to the common source with the word for time, the adjective for both is "temporal" (both "pertaining to time" and "pertaining to the temple").

v • d • e General anatomy of head and neck - head
Face/Occiput	Forehead • Eye • Ear • Temple • Cheek • Chin
External nose	Nostril • Nasal septum • Cartilages (Accessory nasal, of the septum, Greater alar, Lateral nasal, Lesser alar, Vomeronasal) • Olfactory glands
Nasal cavity	Choana • Turbinate • Sphenoethmoidal recess • Ethmoid bulla • Hiatus semilunaris • Ostium maxillare • Inferior meatus • Vomeronasal organ • Paranasal sinus
Mouth/oral cavity	Lip (Upper, Lower) • Philtrum • Jaw • Pterygomandibular raphe
Teeth	Permanent (Incisor, Canine, Premolar, Molar) • Deciduous
Tongue	Plica fimbriata • Median sulcus • Foramen cecum • Terminal sulcus • Frenulum linguae • Anterior tongue • Posterior tongue
Palate/roof of mouth	Hard palate • Soft palate • Palatine raphe • Incisive papilla • Uvula • Pharyngeal recess • Arches (Palatoglossal, Palatopharyngeal)
Salivary glands	Parotid gland/Parotid duct • Submandibular gland/Submandibular duct • Sublingual gland/Major sublingual duct
Other	fascia (Masseteric fascia, Temporal fascia, Galea aponeurotica) • Scalp