orifice

Definitions

or (mouth, from ōs/ōris) + -i- (connector) + fic- (a form of fac/facere, 'to make') = 'a thing made into a mouth.' An orifice is any opening, especially a natural one in the body — literally a little 'mouth' cut into a surface.

Why It Means This

Orifice hides the mouth-root inside it. Combine ōs/ōris ('mouth') with facere ('to make') and you get 'something made into a mouth' — an opening. The metaphor is vivid: every orifice is, in effect, a small mouth in a surface, whether in the body or in a machine. The word is formal and slightly clinical.

Common Collocations

• 1.small orifice小孔口
• 2.body orifice身体开口
• 3.nasal orifice鼻孔

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The valve controls the flow through a small orifice.

• 2.

  Anatomy describes the body's various orifices.