Meaning: mouth

Illustrative Context

He put his fingers in his mouth.

Target Sense

Basic term for the complex of lips and oral cavity in humans, avoiding more technical medical terminology if different. Avoid terms specifically for "lips" or inner or outer parts. Where a language distinguishes the inner and outer mouth the term for the outer mouth .

Target Sense

• The most basic, default term for the mouth as a part of the human body.
• The target sense is the prototypical one of the mouth seen as a whole, for which most languages have a generic term that can apply not just to the oral cavity, but can also take in the tongue, teeth and the lips as parts of this overall sense of mouth.
• Avoid terms specific to just individual parts of the mouth (e.g. lips) or for shapes of mouth.
• Follow common usage and basic vocabulary. Strict anatomical or medical definitions are not relevant. Avoid any technical, medical terminology.
• The term entered must be the default term for the human mouth. As the most basic term, it may also be extendable to the ‘mouth’ or even ‘snout’ of other animals; but do not enter any other terms applied only or predominantly to animals.
• The target sense is the literal one for the physical body part, not any functional senses of speech, taste, eating, breathing, smiling, etc..
• Avoid lexemes that are predominantly used only for figurative extensions, e.g. for the ‘mouth’ of a river (e.g. French embouchure), or for the sense of taste, the power of speech, etc..
• Enter only the default, neutral register term. Most languages have additional slang or jocular words (e.g. English gob, French geule), often derived from terms for the mouths of animals: do not enter any such terms.