oriˈficial, a.
[f. L. ōrifici-um opening, orifice + -al1. (But the word meant was perh. orificall.)]
† 1. Mouthmaking; hence high-sounding, bombastic. Obs. rare—1.
| 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 69 O orificiall rethorike, wipe thy euerlasting mouth. |
2. Of or pertaining to an orifice or orifices; in Med. used spec. with reference to a theory that many pathological conditions arise from irritation of the orifices of the rectum and urogenital system and can be relieved by surgery or other treatment of these areas.
| 1887 E. H. Pratt Orificial Surg. i. 14, I believe that all forms of chronic diseases have one common predisposing cause, and that cause is a nerve-waste occasioned by orificial irritation at the lower openings of the body. 1926 Spectator 25 Sept. 473/1 With a fine inconsistency, they belong to societies of so-called ‘orificial surgery’ and follow strange cults of electrical healing. 1960 [see clitoridectomy]. 1973 Biol. Abstr. LV. 6287/1 This..revealed an orificial pulmonary stenosis which clinical investigation had failed to detect. |