hymen (hi'men)

A thin fold of mucous membrane, of varying shape, but usually crescentic, which, in the virgin, closes the ostium vaginae more or le completely. annular h. That form which is attached to the whole circumference of the ostium vaginae, with an opening in the central portion, bifenestrate h. A h. which presents two openings, cribriform h. A h. with a number of small openings in it. h. denticulatus. That form of h. in which the free border is serrated, h. fimbriatus. That variety of h. in which the free border and often the two surfaces are shaggy with delicate papillary outgrowths, h. multiplex. Syn.: double h. The condition in which there is a membranous constriction of the vagina, resembling the h., above the latter, h. semilunar is. That form of h. annular is in which the preponderance of the posterior portion is shown to an unusual degree, h. sept us. A form in which the opening is divided by a vertical median vaginal partition consisting of an extension of the posterior columns, h. sub sept us. A variety of h. sept us in which two median partition like structures, from the anterior and posterior columns, respectively, approach each other, but do not unite, imperforate h. That form in which there is no opening, so that the ostium vagina is wholly occluded. [Gr., ymen, membrane.]