coccyx

English

Etymology

From Latin coccyx, from Ancient Greek κόκκυξ (kókkux, “cuckoo”), referring to the curved shape of a cuckoo's beak when viewed from the side.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑksɪks/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒksɪks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

coccyx (plural coccyges)

1. (medicine, formal) The final (bottom-most) fused vertebrae at the base of the spine, the tailbone.
   • 2018, Richard Powers, The Overstory, Vintage (2019), page 129:

     He lands on the concrete path and bounces on his coccyx, which cracks the base of his spine.

   • 2024 January 30, Elle Hunt, “‘With orgasm people strive for oblivion’: Poor Things’ intimacy coordinator on consent, orgies and Emma Stone”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     An actor herself, McAlpine was hands-on, demonstrating “how you penetrate” on screen: “If you can move your coccyx, just arch your back slightly, it looks fantastic,” she says happily. “Those orgy scenes were amazing.”

Synonyms

• tailbone (informal)

Hypernyms

• bone

Derived terms

• coccydynia
• coccygeal
• coccygectomy
• coccygeous
• sacrococcyx

Translations

(anatomy) final fused vertebrae

Arabic: عُصُص m (ʕuṣuṣ), عُصْعُص m (ʕuṣʕuṣ) Egyptian Arabic: عصعص m (ʕúṣʕuṣ) Armenian: պոչուկ (hy) (počʻuk) Belarusian: хвастцо́вая косць f (xvastcóvaja koscʹ), хвасце́ц m (xvascjéc) Bulgarian: опашна кост (opašna kost) Catalan: còccix (ca) m Cebuano: bangkawbangkaw Central Melanau: tuleang kelebik, kubin Chinese: Mandarin: 尾骨 (zh) (wěigǔ), 尾骶骨 (zh) (wěidǐgǔ), 尾閭骨 / 尾闾骨 (zh) (wěilǘgǔ) Crimean Tatar: quyruq kemigi Czech: kostrč (cs) f Danish: haleben (da) n Dutch: staartbeen (nl), (please verify) stuitbeen (nl), (please verify) stuit (nl) f, stuitje (nl) n Esperanto: kokcigo Faroese: halabein n Finnish: häntäluu (fi) French: coccyx (fr) m Galician: cóccix (gl) m German: Coccyx m (medical); Steißbein (de) n (commonly) Greek: Ancient: κόκκυξ m (kókkux) Modern: κόκκυξ (el) m (kókkyx), ουρά (el) m (ourá) Hiligaynon: pigtot Hungarian: farkcsont (hu), farokcsont (hu) Icelandic: rófubein (is) Ilocano: kimmol Indonesian: tulang sulbi (id), tulang ekor (id), tulang tongkeng (id), koksiks Ingrian: häntäpiiluu Italian: coccige (it) Japanese: 尾骨 (ja) (びこつ, bikotsu), 尾骶骨 (ja) (びていこつ, biteikotsu), 尾閭骨 (ja) (びりょこつ, biryokotsu) Kapampangan: kaikut, kayikut Kazakh: құймышақ (qūimyşaq) Khiamniungan Naga: mūithùonyù Korean: 꼬리뼈 (kkorippyeo) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hestiyê qilênce Lithuanian: uodegikaulis Malay: tulang sulbi, tulang ekor, tulang cenonot, tulang kongkeng, tulang tongkeng, koksiks Maori: timu Navajo: atseeʼ Norwegian: Bokmål: haleben n, halebein n Nynorsk: halebein n Old Czech: kostřec m Ottoman Turkish: قویروق كمیكی (kuyruk kemiği), عصعص (ʼusʼus) Persian: دنبالچه (fa) (donbâlče) Polish: kość guziczna (pl) f, kość ogonowa f Portuguese: cóccix (pt) m, mucumbu m (Northeast Brazil), curanchim m (Brazil) Romanian: noadă (ro) f Russian: ко́пчик (ru) m (kópčik) Sabah Bisaya: saligi' Scots: rumple-bane Serbo-Croatian: trtica (sh) f, trtičnjača f Sicilian: còcciggi m Slovak: kostrč (sk) f Slovene: trtica (sl) f Spanish: cóccix (es) m, coxis (es) m, rabadilla (es) f, curcusilla f, rafaila f Swedish: svanskota c Tagal Murut: kalut Tagalog: puil, tulatod Thai: ก้นกบ (th) (gôn-gòp) Turkish: kuyruk sokumu (tr) Ukrainian: ку́прик m (kúpryk) Vietnamese: xương cụt (𩩫𥐒) West Coast Bajau: sengkurung

Further reading

• coccyx on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Category:coccyx on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κόκκυξ (kókkux).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔk.sis/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

coccyx m (plural coccyx)

1. (anatomy) coccyx, tailbone

Further reading

• “coccyx”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κόκκῡξ (kókkūx).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkok.kyːks/, [ˈkɔkːyːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkot.t͡ʃiks/, [ˈkɔtː͡ʃiks]

Noun

coccȳx m (genitive coccȳgis); third declension

1. (anatomy) coccyx

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	coccȳx	coccȳgēs
genitive	coccȳgis	coccȳgum
dative	coccȳgī	coccȳgibus
accusative	coccȳgem	coccȳgēs
ablative	coccȳge	coccȳgibus
vocative	coccȳx	coccȳgēs

References

• “coccyx”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• coccyx in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Noun

coccyx m (invariable)

1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of cóccix.