gnatho-, gnath-, -gnatha, -gnathan, -gnath, -gnathia, -gnathic, -gnathous
(Greek: jaw)
The jaw is the name applied to the bones which contain the teeth.
The two upper jaw-bones, the maxillae, are firmly attached to the other bones of the face.
The lower jaw, the mandible, is shaped in a form similar to that of a horseshoe, and, after the first year of life, it consists of a single bone.
It forms a hinge-joint with the squamous part (thin, plate-like section) of the temporal bone, immediately in front of the ear.
Both the upper and the lower jaw-bones include deep sockets known as alveoli, which contain the roots of the teeth.