perineum

See also: Perineum

English

Alternative forms

• perinaeum, perinæum

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin perinaeum, from Ancient Greek περίναιον (perínaion, “space between the anus and scrotum”), from Ancient Greek περίνεος, περίνεοι (períneos, períneoi, “male genitals”), itself from earlier Ancient Greek περίς (perís, “penis”) through influence from Ancient Greek πηρίς (pērís, “scrotum”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɛ.ɹɪˈniː.əm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɛɹ.ɪˈni.əm/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˌpɛɹ.əˈniː.əm/

Noun

perineum (plural perinea)

1. (anatomy) The region between the human genitalia, especially the scrotum, and anus. The male perineum is between the scrotum and anus. The female perineum is between the vagina and anus.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:perineum

   • 1827, Guy's Hospital: Case of Fistula in Perineo, Successfully Treated, The Lancet, Volume 12, page 61,

     He was attacked with complete retention of urine, after a debauch, and six weeks afterwards an abscess formed in the perineum, which eventually burst, leaving a fistulous opening, through which the urine continued to be discharged to the period of his admission into the Hospital.

   • 2005, Brian J. Moran, 27: Using the perineal pressure applicator device, Adam P. Dicker, Gregory S. Merrick, Frank M. Waterman, Richard K. Valicenti, Leonar G. Gomella (editors), Basic and Advanced Techniques in Prostate Brachytherapy, page 251,

     The prostate is surrounded by venous plexi and the perineum has a rich blood supply.

   • 2011, Ian Lyons, Biomedical Science: Lecture Notes, page 371,

     The perineum is diamond shaped and stretches from the pubic symphysis to the coccyx.

Derived terms

• perineal

Translations

Translations

• Afrikaans: perineum
• Albanian: perineum m, nënvete (sq) f
• Arabic: عِجَان‎ m (ʿijān)
• Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: շեք (hy) (šekʿ)
• Asturian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: aralıq (az)
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: পেরিনিয়াম (periniẏam)
• Breton: perine, perineum
• Bulgarian: перинеум (perineum)
• Catalan: perineu m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 會陰, 会阴 (wui⁶ jam¹)

  Mandarin: 會陰 (zh), 会阴 (zh) (huìyīn)

• Czech: hráz (cs) f
• Danish: mellemkød n
• Dutch: perineum (nl) n, bilnaad (nl) m
• Esperanto: perineo
• Estonian: lahkliha
• Finnish: väliliha (fi)
• French: périnée (fr) m
• Galician: períneo m
• German: Perineum (de) n, Damm (de) m

  Alemannic German: Griggele f

• Greek: περίνεο (el) n (períneo)

  Ancient: περίνεος m (períneos)

• Hebrew: חֵיץ הַנְּקָבַיִים‎ m (kheyts ha-nekavayim)
• Hindi: मूलाधार (hi) m (mūlādhār)
• Hungarian: gát (hu), perineum (hu)
• Icelandic: spöng
• Ido: perineo (io)
• Irish: gibidinic

• Italian: perineo (it) m
• Japanese: 会陰 (ja) (えいん, ein)
• Korean: 회음부(會陰部) (hoeeumbu), 회음(會陰) (hoeeum)
• Latin: perineum n
• Latvian: starpene f
• Lithuanian: tarpvietė f
• Low German: Damm (nds), Perineum
• Maori: huinga
• Northern Sami: cahcaoažži
• Norwegian: perineum

  Bokmål: mellomkjøtt n

• Persian: میاندوراه‎ (miyândorâh), عجان‎ ('ejân), پرینه‎ (perine)
• Polish: krocze (pl) n
• Portuguese: períneo (pt) m
• Romanian: perineu (ro) n
• Romansch: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: проме́жность (ru) f (proméžnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мѐђица f

  Roman: mèđica (sh) f

• Sicilian: please add this translation if you can
• Slovak: hrádza
• Slovene: presrédek m
• Spanish: periné (es) m, perineo (es) m
• Swahili: msamba (sw)
• Swedish: mellangård (sv) c, perineum, bäckenbotten c
• Tagalog: kulampang
• Turkish: perine (tr), apış arası
• Ukrainian: проме́жина f (proméžyna)
• Urdu: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: hội âm (會陰)
• Welsh: perinewm, perinëwm m, gwerddyr f
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “perineum”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• Simkin, Oliver. 2016. "Περίς, πηρίς y περίναιος." Emerita: Revista de Lingüística y Filología Clásica, 84.2: 353-362.

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Albanian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin perineum.

Noun

perineum m (definite singular perineumi)

1. (anatomy) perineum

Declension

declension of perineum

	indefinite forms		definite forms
nominative	perineum		perineumi
accusative	perineum		perineumin
genitive (i/e/të/së)	perineumi		perineumit
dative	perineumi		perineumit
ablative	perineumi		perineumit

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Czech

Noun

perineum n

1. (anatomy) perineum

Related terms

• perineální

Further reading

• perineum in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• perineum in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989