trigemini

Trigemini is a term used in historical and Latin anatomical texts to refer to the components of the trigeminal system. In modern anatomy, it is more common to speak of the nervi trigemini or the three divisions of the trigeminal nerve. The trigeminal nerve, or cranial nerve V, is the principal sensory nerve of the face and provides motor innervation to the muscles of mastication through its mandibular division. It divides into three branches: ophthalmic (V1), maxillary (V2), and mandibular (V3). V1 supplies the forehead, scalp, and cornea; V2 supplies the midface including the cheeks, upper lip, and nose; V3 supplies the lower face, lower lip, and the mouth floor, and also innervates the muscles of mastication. V1 exits the skull via the superior orbital fissure, V2 via the foramen rotundum, and V3 via the foramen ovale.

In clinical contexts, disorders of the trigeminal nerve—such as trigeminal neuralgia, which may affect one or more divisions—are significant. Damage can result from trauma, tumors, or demyelinating disease and can cause facial pain or sensory loss.

Today, "trigemini" is rarely used as a stand-alone term in English-language medical writing; it remains a historical or Latin-form reference to the three divisions of the trigeminal nerve, collectively described as nervi trigemini or as V1, V2, and V3.