noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/tɹɪˈfaɪn/
rhymes with -aɪn
1
noun
Meaning 1
A surgical instrument with a cylindrical blade used to remove a circular section of tissue, such as bone or cornea; a trepan.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: medicine, sciences
Examples
They removed a core of bone as well as took a bone marrow aspirate from my right hip using a trephine to exclude me having blood cancer, causing a blood- and serum-stained shirt, a whopping hematoma and a great deal of mental anguish and physical pain in the process!
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
To use a trephine during surgery.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To perforate with a trephine.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
a surgical instrument used to remove sections of bone from the skull
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: trepan
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: surgical instrument
5
verb
Meaning 5
operate on with a trephine
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: operate on, operate
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French tréphine, from Latin trepanum, from Ancient Greek τρύπανον (trúpanon, “auger, borer”). Doublet of trepan.
Across languages
Translations
6 source translations are retained for this English entry.
French:
trépan
— surgical instrument to remove a circular section from the skull
French:
tréphine
— surgical instrument to remove a circular section from the skull
Portuguese:
trépano
— surgical instrument to remove a circular section from the skull
Spanish:
trépano
— surgical instrument to remove a circular section from the skull
Swedish:
trepan
— surgical instrument to remove a circular section from the skull
Ottoman Turkish:
طرپان
(tırpan)
— surgical instrument to remove a circular section from the skull
