skeleton
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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From New Latin sceleton, from Ancient Greek σκελετός (skeletós, “dried up, withered, dried body, parched, mummy”), from σκέλλω (skéllō, “dry, dry up, make dry, parch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- (“to parch, wither”); compare Greek σκληρός (sklirós, “hard”).
Alternative forms
- sceleton (obsolete)
Noun
skeleton (plural skeletons or skeleta)
- (anatomy) The system that provides support to an organism, internal and made up of bones and cartilage in vertebrates, external in some other animals.
- 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Treasure Hunt—Flint’s Pointer”, in Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part VI (Captain Silver), page 263:
- At the foot of a pretty big pine, and involved in a green creeper, which had even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human skeleton lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground.
- An anthropomorphic representation of a skeleton.
- She dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween.
- 1724, Charles Johnson, “Of Captain Spriggs and His Crew”, in A General History of the Pyrates, […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for, and sold by T. Warner, […], →OCLC, pages 411–412:
- A Day or two after they parted, [Francis] Spriggs was choſe Captain by the reſt, and a black Enſign was made, which they called Jolly Roger, with the ſame Device that Captain [Edward] Low carried, viz. a white Skeliton in the Middle of it, with a Dart in one Hand ſtriking a bleeding Heart, and in the other, an Hour Glaſs; when this was finiſhed and hoiſted, they fired all their Guns to ſalute their Captain and themſelves, and then looked out for Prey.
- (figuratively) A very thin person.
- She lost so much weight while she was ill that she became a skeleton.
- (figuratively) The central core of something that gives shape to the entire structure.
- The skeleton of the organisation is essentially the same as it was ten years ago, but many new faces have come and gone.
- (architecture) A frame that provides support to a building or other construction.
- (computing) A client-helper procedure that communicates with a stub.
- In remote method invocation, the client helper is a ‘stub’ and the service helper is a ‘skeleton’.
- (geometry) The vertices and edges of a polyhedron, taken collectively.
- (printing) A very thin form of light-faced type.
Synonyms
- (anatomy): ottomy (obsolete), skellington (nonstandard)
- (very thin person): see also Thesaurus:thin person
- (central core giving shape to something): backbone
Antonyms
- (computing): stub
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
system that provides support to an organism
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representation of a skeleton
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very thin person
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central core of something
frame that provides support to a building
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computing: client-helper procedure
geometry: vertices and edges of a polyhedron
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
skeleton (third-person singular simple present skeletons, present participle skeletoning, simple past and past participle skeletoned)
- (archaic) to reduce to a skeleton; to skin; to skeletonize
- (archaic) to minimize
See also
Etymology 2
The etymology of the term is disputed between two versions.[1]
- From the sled used, which originally was a bare frame, like a skeleton.[1]
- From Norwegian kjaelke (a type of ice sled) through a bad anglicization as "skele".[1]
Noun
skeleton (uncountable)
- (sports, uncountable) A type of tobogganing in which competitors lie face down, and descend head first (compare luge).
Synonyms
- (type of tobogganing): skeleton tobogganing
Translations
type of tobogganing
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See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 IBSF (International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation), "Skeleton history" (2015)
Further reading
- skeleton on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- skeleton (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Esperanto
Noun
skeleton
- accusative singular of skeleto
French
Pronunciation
Noun
skeleton m (uncountable)
- skeleton (winter sport)
Derived terms
Portuguese
Noun
skeleton m (uncountable)
- skeleton (type of tobogganing)
Related terms
Categories:
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