Same as fontanel; a soft, membranous gap between the bones of an infant's skull that normally closes by age two.
French diminutive form of 'fontaine' (fountain), from Latin 'fontana.' The term was applied by anatomists to these skull openings because they resembled small fountains or springs in their appearance and the way cerebrospinal fluid pulses through them.
The anterior fontanelle closes around 18 months, but a delayed closure was historically a sign of rickets or other childhood diseases—so observing these soft spots was one of the earliest diagnostic tools in pediatric medicine.
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