How to Pronounce Inferior Temporal Line

Say it like this: in-FEER-ee-or TEM-por-al lyn. The stress falls on the first syllable of "inferior" (in-FEER), and on the first syllable of "temporal" (TEM). Think of it as three separate words, with the strongest emphasis on "FEER" and "TEM."

In anatomy, "inferior" means lower or below—it's the opposite of "superior," which means upper. So the inferior temporal line is the lower of two temporal lines on the skull, positioned beneath the superior temporal line.

"Temporal" comes from the Latin word for "temple" and refers to the side of the head near your temple. The temporal line is a ridge of bone in that region on the side of your skull.

Yes: in-FEER-ee-or (4 syllables) / TEM-por-al (3 syllables) / lyn (1 syllable). Putting it together, you have 8 syllables total, but you only stress two of them: "FEER" and "TEM."

People often stress the wrong syllables, saying in-fer-EE-or instead of in-FEER-ee-or, or tem-POR-al instead of TEM-por-al. Remember: the stress always goes on the first syllable of each main word.

The inferior temporal line is a curved ridge of bone on the side of your skull, located below another similar ridge called the superior temporal line. It marks where a muscle in your temple region begins to attach to the bone.

Other anatomy words with "temporal" include the temporalis muscle, temporal bone, and temporal fossa. All of these refer to structures in the temple area of the head.

You might read in an anatomy textbook: "The inferior temporal line marks the lower boundary of the temporalis muscle's attachment site on the lateral skull."