shoulder

English

Etymology

From Middle English sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdor, sculdra (“shoulder”), from West Germanic *skuldra (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈʃəʊldə/, SAMPA: /"S@Uld@/
• (US) enPR: shōlʹdər, IPA: /ˈʃoʊldɚ/, SAMPA: /"SoUld@`/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -əʊldə(r)

Noun

shoulder (plural shoulders)

1. (anatomy) The joint between the arm and the torso, sometimes including the surrounding area.

   The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder.

2. A part of a road where drivers may stop in an emergency; a hard shoulder.

   He stopped the car on the shoulder of the highway to change the flat tire.

Derived terms

Terms derived from shoulder

cold shoulder hard shoulder shoulder blade

shoulder check shoulder pad shoulder season

shoulder to cry on straight from the shoulder

Translations

joint between arm and torso

Arabic: كتف (ar) (kataf) m. Aramaic: Syriac: ܟܬܦܐ (kathpā, kathpo) f. Hebrew: כתפא (kathpā, kathpo) f. Armenian: ուս (us) Azeri: çiyin (az) Bulgarian: рамо (bg) (rámo) n. Catalan: espatlla f. Chinese: Mandarin: 肩 (cmn) (jiān) Czech: rameno (cs) n. Danish: skulder (da) c. Darkinjung: gŭndang Dutch: schouder (nl) m. Esperanto: ŝultro (eo) Estonian: õlg (et) Faroese: øksl (fo) f. Finnish: hartia (fi), olkapää (fi), olka (fi); (in plural shoulders) harteet, hartiat French: épaule (fr) f. Old French: espalle f., espaule f. Middle French: espaule, espaulle f. Georgian: მხარი (ka) (mxari) German: Schulter (de) f. Greek: ώμος (el) (ómos) m. Hebrew: כתף (katéf) f. Hiligaynon: abága Hungarian: váll (hu) Icelandic: öxl (is) f. Italian: spalla (it) f. Japanese: 肩 (ja), かた (ja) (kata) Kurdish: Sorani: شان (ku) (shan)

Latin: umerus (la), humerus (la) Latvian: plecs (lv) m. Lithuanian: petys (lt) m. Lojban: janco (jbo) Macedonian: рамо (mk) (rámo) n., плешка (mk) (pléška) f. Malay: bahu (ms) Mandinka: daboo Navajo: awos Occitan: espatla (oc) f. Old English: sculdor (ang) Old Norse: ǫxl f. Polish: bark (pl) m. Portuguese: ombro (pt) m. Romani: phiko m. Romanian: umăr (ro) m. Romansch: spatla (rm) f. Russian: плечо (ru) (plečó) n. Scottish Gaelic: gualann (gd) f., slinnean (gd) m. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ра̏ме (sh) n., плѐћа (sh) f., пле̏ћка (sh) f. Roman: rȁme (sh) n., plèća (sh) f., plȅćka (sh) f. Sicilian: spadda (scn) f. Skolt Sami: a´rddi Slovak: plece (sk) n. Slovene: ráma (sl) f. Spanish: hombro (es) m. Swedish: axel (sv) c., skuldra (sv) c. Taos: ę́nemą Telugu: భుజం (te) (bhujam), జబ్బ (te) (jabba) Vilamovian: aochsuł Volapük: jot (vo) Welsh: ysgwydd (cy) f., palfais (cy) f.

part of a road where drivers may stop in an emergency

Catalan: voral m., vorera d'emergència f. Chinese: Mandarin: 路肩 (cmn) (lùjiān) Danish: rabat (da) c. Dutch: berm (nl) m., vluchtstrook (nl) m. Finnish: piennar, (tienreuna) French: bande d'arrêt d'urgence (fr) f.; (Quebec): accotement stabilisé (fr) m. German: Standstreifen m. Greek: ΛΕΑ (el) (LEA) f. Hebrew: שוליים (shuláyim) m. pl., שול (shól) m. sg. Hungarian: útpadka (hu), (the lane for such a reason especially on motorways/freeways) leállósáv (hu)

Icelandic: vegöxl (is) f., öxl (is) f. Italian: banchina (it) f. Macedonian: банкина (mk) (bankína) f. Polish: pobocze (pl) n. Portuguese: acostamento (pt) m. Russian: обочина (ru) (obóčina) f. Slovak: krajnica (sk) f. Spanish: acotamiento m. (Mexico), arcén m. (Spain), banquina f. (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay), berma f. (Colombia, Chile), espaldón m. (Costa Rica), hombrillo m. (Venezuela), hombro m. (Panama), paseo m. (Dominican Republic) Swedish: vägren (sv) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: sup Arabic: كتف (kátef) f. Ido: shultro Korean: 어깨 (eokkae) Romanian: umăr m., spate m. and f.

Verb

shoulder (third-person singular simple present shoulders, present participle shouldering, simple past and past participle shouldered)

1. (transitive) To push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder.
2. (transitive) To carry (something) on one's shoulders.
3. (figuratively, transitive) To accept responsibility for.

   shoulder the blame

Translations

push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder

Hiligaynon: abága

Hungarian: tolakszik (hu), furakodik (hu)

carry (something) on one's shoulders

German: schultern (de) Hiligaynon: abága

Icelandic: axla (is)

accept responsibility for

Hiligaynon: abága

Hungarian: vállal (hu), elvállal (hu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Hebrew: לשאת (lasét)