parietal noun & adjective. [pǝ'rʌɪɪt(ǝ)l] E16.
[French pariétal or late Latin parietalis, from pariet-: see PARIES, -AL¹.]
A. noun. A parietal bone (see sense B.1a below). E16.
b. adjective.
1. a. Anatomy & Zoology. Belonging to or connected with the wall of the body or the lining of a body cavity; spec. designating, pertaining to, or situated near a pair of bones, right and left, forming part of the sides and top of the skull, between the frontal and occipital bones. L16.
parietal bone either of a pair of bones, right and left, forming part of the sides and top of the skull, between the frontal and occipital bones. parietal cell an acid-secreting cell of the stomach wall, an oxyntic cell. parietal eye a pineal eye. parietal lobe a lobe in each cerebral hemisphere lying below the crown of the skull. parietal pleura: see PLEURA noun¹ 1.
b. Botany. Belonging to or attached to the wall of a hollow organ, esp. an ovary. E19.

2. Of or pertaining to residence within a college. US. M19.
■ A. Ulam At Harvard, the formerly idiotically strict parietal rules had been eroded..to sensibly hypocritical proportions.

3. gen. Of or belonging to a wall; mural. rare exc. with ref. to prehistoric art. M19.
■ H. F. Osborn This Art..is also mural or parietal..consisting of drawings..on the walls of caverns.

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