Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A triangular bone made up of five fused vertebrae and forming the posterior section of the pelvis.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A compound bone resulting from the ankylosis of two or more vertebræ between the lumbar and the coccygeal region of the spine, mostly those which unite with the ilia; the os sacrum.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) That part of the vertebral column which is directly connected with, or forms a part of, the pelvis.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy A large triangular bone located at the base of the spine between the two hipbones of pelvis and formed from fused vertebrae.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun wedge-shaped bone consisting of five fused vertebrae forming the posterior part of the pelvis; its base connects with the lowest lumbar vertebra and its tip with the coccyx

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin, from Late Latin (os) sacrum, sacred (bone), sacrum (translation of Greek hieron (osteon), sacred (bone), so called from the use of the sacrum and coccyx of sacrificed animals in divination ), neuter of Latin sacer, sacred, holy; see sacred.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin ōs sacrum ("holy bone"), translation of Ancient Greek ἱερόν ὀστέον (hieron osteon). Called so either because supposedly sacrum was the part of an animal offered in sacrifice or because of the belief that the soul of the man resides there.

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Examples

  • Next, bring your attention to your sacrum, which houses your sacred sexual energies and is the root of your psychophysical structure the word sacrum means “sacred place” in Latin.

    The Way of the Fertile Soul Randine Lewis 2007

  • Charlemagne and his advisers conceived of his new authority as a revival of the old imperial power; only with Otto I was the distinctively new character of the regime recognized; and it became “holy” only when Frederick Barbarossa introduced the word sacrum into his title in 1155.

    Charlemagne, King of the Franks, 28 Jan 814 de Brantigny........................ 2009

  • Charlemagne and his advisers conceived of his new authority as a revival of the old imperial power; only with Otto I was the distinctively new character of the regime recognized; and it became “holy” only when Frederick Barbarossa introduced the word sacrum into his title in 1155.

    Archive 2008-01-20 de Brantigny........................ 2008

  • Charlemagne and his advisers conceived of his new authority as a revival of the old imperial power; only with Otto I was the distinctively new character of the regime recognized; and it became “holy” only when Frederick Barbarossa introduced the word sacrum into his title in 1155.

    Charlemagne, King of the Franks, 28 Jan 814 de Brantigny........................ 2008

  • The sign of the Churches ver sacrum is the rose, the golden rose blessed today by the Holy Father.

    03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003 John 2003

  • The female pelvis is shallower and wider, less massive, the margins of the bones are more widely separated, thus giving greater prominence to the hips; the sacrum is shorter and less curved, and the pubic arch is wider and more rounded.

    Woman Her Sex and Love Life William J. Robinson

  • The spinal column rests on a strong three-sided bone called the sacrum, or sacred-bone, which is wedged in between the hip bones and forms the keystone of the pelvis.

    A Practical Physiology Albert F. Blaisdell

  • —In the female the sacrum is shorter and wider than in the male; the lower half forms a greater angle with the upper; the upper half is nearly straight, the lower half presenting the greatest amount of curvature.

    II. Osteology. 3a. 4. The Sacral and Coccygeal Vertebræ 1918

  • The cavity is shallower and wider; the sacrum is shorter wider, and its upper part is less curved; the obturator foramina are triangular in shape and smaller in size than in the male.

    II. Osteology. 6c. 2. The Pelvis 1918

  • At the bottom of the sacrum is a hole through which massive amounts of energy pass.

    The Way of the Fertile Soul Randine Lewis 2007

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