paries

Paries is a Latin noun meaning wall. In anatomy and medicine, paries (plural parietes) denotes a wall or boundary that forms the outer limit of a hollow organ or body cavity, distinguishing the boundary from its contents. The term is chiefly encountered in historical or Latinized anatomical descriptions; in modern English, it is rarely used outside such contexts.

The concept underlies related terms derived from the same root, such as parietalis (parietal) and the os parietale (the parietal bone), which emphasize walls or boundary regions. In clinical description, one might refer to the parietes of the cranial or thoracic cavities as the walls enclosing those spaces, formed by bones or membranes. The idea likewise appears in other anatomical descriptions where a cavity’s boundary is described as its paries.

Usage outside human anatomy is more limited but follows the same principle: paries can denote a wall or partition within other hollow structures, though modern terminology often favors plain “wall of” phrasing rather than Latinized forms. Because paries is primarily a historical or classical term, contemporary texts typically employ more direct language to describe the boundaries of cavities or organs.

See also: parietal, parietal bone, os parietale.