nostril

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English

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An elephant's nostrils.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English nostrille, from Old English nosþȳrel, equivalent to nose +‎ thirl (“hole”). Compare Old Frisian nosterle (“nostril”), modern West Frisian noaster (“nostrill”). Compare also Middle Low German noster (“nostril”), from Proto-Germanic *nustriz (“nostril”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: nŏs'trəl, IPA(key): /ˈnɒstɹɪl/, /ˈnɒstɹəl/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɒstɹəl

Noun

nostril (plural nostrils)

  1. Either of the two orifices located on the nose (or on the beak of a bird); used as a passage for air and other gases to travel the nasal passages.
    Synonyms: intake, nare, naris, nosehole
    • 1601, Plinius Secundus, translated by Philemon Holland, The Hiſtorie of the World. Commonly Called, the Naturall Hiſtorie ‎, London: Impenſis G. B, Book L, Chapter XIII, page 58:
      […] whether it bee that they bee broken winded and purſiue, or otherwiſe bitten and ſtung with venomous beaſts; in which caſes, there muſt be an injection made vp into the noſthrils, of the juice of Rue in wine.

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