-gnathous

The combining form -gnathous is used like a suffix meaning “having a jaw.” It is occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in zoology.

The form -gnathous comes from the Greek gnáthos, meaning “jaw.” Despite the similarity in spelling between -gnathous and the verb gnash, “to grind or strike (the teeth) together,” the two terms are unrelated.

The term Agnatha, which refers to “the class of vertebrates comprising the lampreys, hagfishes, and several extinct forms, having no jaws or paired appendages,” comes from a Latin equivalent of this word. Find out more at our entry for Agnatha.

A medical term that features the combining form -gnathous is anisognathous, “having upper and lower jaws of unequal width, especially in the areas of the molars.”

The prefix aniso- means “unequal” or “uneven.” The form -gnathous means “having a jaw,” and therefore, anisognathous literally translates to “having an uneven jaw.”

What are some words that use the combining form -gnathous?

• epignathous
• mesognathous
• metagnathous
• orthognathous
• paragnathous
• prognathous

What are some other forms that -gnathous may be commonly confused with?

• -anthous
• -gamous
• -genus

Some birds like parrots and hawks have epignathous beaks. Given that epi- means “over,” what does epignathous literally translate to?