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Definition

noun, plural: synchondroses

(anatomy)

A joint in between articulating bones in which the connecting medium is a cartilage that is eventually converted into bone before adult life.

Supplement

Synchondroses are primary cartilaginous joints located between the epiphyses and bodies of long bones, between the occipital and sphenoid, and between the petrous portion of the temporal and the jugular process of the occipital.

The cartilage, hyaline or fibrocartilage, are usually converted to bone with age; an exception to this are sternal synchondroses, and the joints joining the first rib to the manubrium of the sternum.

Word origin: from Greek sunkhondrōsis: sun-, syn- + khondros, cartilage + -ōsis, -osis.
Synonym: synchondrodial joint, primary cartilaginous joint.
Compare: symphysis.
See also: joint, articulation, cartilage.