Dictionary.net

The hyoid bone is a very movable, osseous arch; of a parabolic shape; convex before, and suspended horizontally in the substance of the soft parts of the neck, between the base of the tongue and the larynx. This bone, separated entirely from the rest of the skeleton, is composed of five distinct portions, susceptible of motion on each other. The first, and most central, is the body of the hyoid, which affords attachment to several muscles; the two others are lateral, and bear the name of branches or greater cornua. The last two are smaller, situate above the other, and are known under the name lesser cornua and styloid cornua. The os hyoides is ossified from five points.