Descending posteriorly and inferiorly from the labyrinth is a thin hook-like process that projects toward the maxillary hiatus. In the opening of the hiatus it articulates with the ethmoidal process of the inferior nasal concha. It forms the inferior boundary of the semilunar hiatus that arches from the anterior ethmoidal sinuses into the middle meatus.

Uncinate comes from the Latin word uncus meaning a hook. Process is a term used in anatomy to describe a projection on a bone. It comes from the Latin pro- meaning forward and cessus for gone. It is an old term that can be traced back to the writings of the early anatomist Celsus.

Processus uncinatus ossis ethmoidalis