fulcrum

See also: Fulcrum

English

WOTD – 7 September 2011

The triangle is the fulcrum.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fulcrum (“bedpost, foot of a couch”), from fulciō (“prop up, support”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfʌlk.ɹəm/, /ˈfʊlk.ɹəm/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Noun

fulcrum (plural fulcrums or fulcra)

1. (mechanics) The support about which a lever pivots.

   It is possible to flick food across the table using your fork as a lever and your finger as a fulcrum.

   • 2010, John Allison, Bad Machinery‎^[1]:

     MILDRED: Archimedes said give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I will move the world.
     CHARLOTTE: Yeah she said that twaddle eight or nine times.

   • 2012 March 1, Henry Petroski, “Opening Doors”, in American Scientist‎^[2], volume 100, number 2, page 112-3:

     A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place.

2. (figurative) A crux or pivot; a central point.
   • 2006, Rebecca Langlands, Sexual Morality in Ancient Rome, page 119:

     By this point the fulcrum of concern is the stuprum of men upon men, described as more prevalent than that upon women.

   • 2021 March 31, Phil McNulty, “England 2-1 Poland: What shape are Gareth Southgate's side in?”, in BBC Sport‎^[3]:

     Chelsea's Mason Mount is a top-class talent while West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has moved his game on to another level this season and will be the fulcrum of England's midfield this summer.

Translations

support about which a lever pivots

• Armenian: հենակետ (hy) (henaket)
• Belarusian: кропка апоры f (krópka apóry)
• Bulgarian: опорна точка f (oporna točka)
• Catalan: fulcre (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 支點／支点 (zh) (zhīdiǎn)

• Czech: opěrný bod m
• Danish: understøttelsespunkt n
• Dutch: draaipunt (nl) n, steunpunt (nl) n
• Esperanto: apogpunkto
• Finnish: tukipiste
• French: point d'appui (fr) m
• Galician: pinze m, forra f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Angelpunkt (de) m, Drehpunkt m, Hebelstützpunkt m, Lager (de) n, Drehachse (de) f, Stützpunkt (de) m, Gelenkpunkt m, Stütze (de) f
• Greek: υπομόχλιο (el) n (ypomóchlio)

  Ancient Greek: ὑπομόχλιον (hupomókhlion)

• Hungarian: forgáspont, forgástengely sg
• Ido: apog-punto (io), pivoto (io)
• Irish: borradh, buthal
• Italian: fulcro (it) m
• Japanese: 支点 (してん, shiten)
• Latin: fulcrum n
• Macedonian: ослонец m (oslonec)
• Malay: sangga tuas, fulkrum
• Norwegian: dreiepunkt n, dreiningspunkt n, hvilepunkt n, omdreiningspunkt n
• Persian: تکیه‌گاه‎
• Polish: punkt podparcia m
• Portuguese: fulcro (pt) m, ponto de apoio m
• Romanian: punct de sprijin n
• Russian: то́чка опо́ры (ru) (tóčka opóry)
• Serbo-Croatian: uporište (sh)
• Spanish: pivote (es) m, punto de apoyo m, fulcro (es) m, hipomoclio m
• Swedish: rotationspunkt, ledpunkt (sv), vridningspunkt
• Telugu: ఆధారము (te) (ādhāramu)
• Turkish: destek (tr)
• Ukrainian: точка опори f (točka opory)
• Welsh: ffwlcrwm m, pwysbwynt m

a crux or pivot; a central point

• German: Dreh- und Angelpunkt (de) m

Latin

Etymology

From fulciō +‎ -crum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈful.krum/, [ˈfʊɫ̪krʊ̃ˑ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈful.krum/, [ˈfulkrum]

Noun

fulcrum n (genitive fulcrī); second declension

1. bedpost
2. foot (of a couch)
3. couch

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fulcrum	fulcra
Genitive	fulcrī	fulcrōrum
Dative	fulcrō	fulcrīs
Accusative	fulcrum	fulcra
Ablative	fulcrō	fulcrīs
Vocative	fulcrum	fulcra

Descendants

• Catalan: fulcre
• English: fulcrum
• French: fulcrum
• Italian: fulcro
• Portuguese: fulcro
• Spanish: fulcro

References

• “fulcrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fulcrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• fulcrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “fulcrum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin