meatus

{{wiktionary|meatus}}

In anatomy, a meatus ({{IPAc-en|m|iː|ˈ|eɪ|t|ə|s}}, {{Respell|mee|AY|təs}},OED 2nd edition, 1989, as {{IPA|/miːˈeɪtəs/}}. {{plural form}}: meatus or meatuses)[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meatus Entry "meatus" in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]. is a natural body opening or canal.

Meatus may refer to:

• the external acoustic meatus, the opening of the ear canal
• the internal auditory meatus, a canal in the temporal bone of the skull
• the urinary meatus, which is the opening of the urethra, situated on the glans penis in males and in the vulval vestibule in females
• one of three nasal meatuses: the superior meatus, middle meatus and inferior meatus; each are passages through the nasal cavity within the skull

(The plural forms of "meatus" are: meatus, as a Latin form (of the fourth declension noun class, which the word belongs to); or meatuses, as a normally derived English plural; or often, and incorrectly, meati, by false analogy with the very common Latin -us/-i forms (such as alumnus/alumni), i.e., the second declension noun class.)