coccyx

English

The coccyx

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 or coccyxes)

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^[1], →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)
• Bajau:

  West Coast Bajau: sengkurung

• Belarusian: хвастцо́вая косць f (xvastcóvaja koscʹ), хвасце́ц m (xvascjéc)
• Bulgarian: опашна кост (opašna kost)
• Catalan: còccix (ca) m
• Cebuano: bangkawbangkaw
• 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

  Old Czech: kostřec m

• 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: κόκκυξ (el) m (kókkyx), ουρά (el) m (ourá)

  Ancient Greek: κόκκυξ m (kókkux)

• 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)
• Korean: 꼬리뼈 (kkorippyeo)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hestiyê qilênce

• Lithuanian: uodegikaulis
• Malay: tulang sulbi, tulang ekor, tulang cenonot, tulang kongkeng, tulang tongkeng, koksiks
• Māori: timu
• Melanau:

  Central Melanau: tuleang kelebik, kubin

• Murut:

  Tagal Murut: kalut

• Naga:

  Khiamniungan Naga: mūithùonyù

• Navajo: atseeʼ
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: haleben n, halebein n

  Nynorsk: halebein n

• 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
• Tagalog: puil, tulatod
• Tanana:

  Lower Tanana: -chaniɬtsela'

• Thai: ก้นกบ (th) (gôn-gòp)
• Turkish: kuyruk sokumu (tr), kuyruk kemiği

  Ottoman Turkish: قویروق كمیكی (kuyruk kemiği), عصعص (ʼusʼus)

• Ukrainian: ку́прик m (kúpryk)
• Vietnamese: xương cụt (𩩫𥐒)

Further reading

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

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κόκκυξ (kókkux) and Latin coccȳx.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔk.sis/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

coccyx m (invariable)

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): [ˈkɔk.kyːks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkɔt.t͡ʃiks]

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

Descendants

• → Catalan: còccix (learned)
• → English: coccyx
• → German: Kokzyx
• → Italian: coccige (learned)

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