Parietal: Medical Definition, Location, and Function

Parietal (adjective) derives from Latin paries ("wall"). In anatomy, it describes structures related to the wall of a body cavity or organ.

Key Examples

• Parietal lobe – one of four cerebral lobes; processes sensory information (touch, pain, temperature, spatial awareness).
• Parietal pleura – the layer of pleura lining the inner thoracic cavity (vs. visceral pleura covering the lungs).
• Parietal peritoneum – the peritoneal layer lining the abdominal cavity wall (vs. visceral peritoneum covering organs).
• Parietal bone – paired bone forming the sides and roof of the skull.

In each case, "parietal" denotes the wall-associated component.