Occipital

Part of speech: noun (n.)

The occipital bone.

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

Of or pertaining to the occiput, or back part of the head, or to the occipital bone. Occipital bone (Anat.), the bone which forms the posterior segment of the skull and surrounds the great foramen by which the spinal cord leaves the cranium. In the higher vertebrates it is usually composed of four bones, which become consolidated in the adult. -- Occipital point (Anat.), the point of the occiput in the mesial plane farthest from the ophryon.