a surgical sawlike instrument for removing circular sections of bone, esp from the skull
verb
2. (transitive)
to remove a circular section of bone from (esp the skull)
Also called: trepan
Derived forms
trephination (ˌtrɛfɪˈneɪʃən)
noun
Word origin
C17: from French tréphine, from obsolete English trefinetrepan1, allegedly from Latin trēs fīnēs literally: three ends; influenced also by English trepanetrepan1
trephine in American English
(triˈfaɪn; triˈfin)
noun
1.
a type of small crown saw used in surgery to remove a circular section, as of bone from the skull
verb intransitiveWord forms: treˈphined or treˈphining
2.
to operate on with a trephine
Derived forms
trephination (ˌtrephiˈnation) (ˌtrɛfəˈneɪʃən)
noun
Word origin
earlier trafine, form based on trepan1 < L tres, three + fines, ends