sacrum - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

The sacrum in the pelvic girdle

From Latin os sacrum (“holy bone”), a calque of Ancient Greek ἱερὸν ὀστέον (hieròn ostéon). Apparently so called either because the sacrum was the part of the animal offered in sacrifice or because of a putative belief that it is where a person's soul resides. A third explanation is that the term is a translation of Ancient Greek ἱερόν (hierón), which has two meanings: “holy, sacred”, and “big”[1] — big being a more appropriate description of the sacrum — but compare.[2]

sacrum (plural sacra or sacrums)

  1. (anatomy) A large triangular bone at the base of the spine, located between the two ilia (wings of the pelvis) and formed from vertebrae that fuse in adulthood.
    Synonym: (obsolete) holy bone

bone at the base of the spine

  1. ^ Voss, Herrlinger, Taschenbuch der Anatomie
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “sacrum”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

From sacer (“sacred, holy”).

sacrum n (genitive sacrī); second declension

  1. A holy or sacred object, e.g. statue, image, emblem, vessel, utensil.
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.293:
      “‘Sacra suōsque tibī commendat Troia penātēs.’”
      [Aeneas dreams that Hector tells him:] “‘Troy entrusts to you her sacred objects and household gods.’”
  2. A holy or sacred place, e.g. sanctuary, shrine, temple.
  3. A religious act or observance, e.g. a sacrifice, festival, rite.
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.50:
      “Tū modo posce deōs veniam, sacrīsque litātīs, [...].”
      “You have only to ask the gods for their pardon, and after you have propitiated them with sacrifices, [...].”
      (In other words, Anna assumes that these sacrificial rites will earn Dido a favorable divine response.)
  4. Divine worship or religion.
    • c. 54-51 B.C.E., Cicero, De re publica, 2.7.13
      quo foedere et Sabinos in civitatem adscivit sacris conmunicatis et regnum suum cum illorum rege sociavit
      By this compact he admitted the Sabines into the city, gave them a participation in the religious ceremonies, and divided his power with their king.
  5. The private religious rites of a family.
    • c. 51 B.C.E., Cicero, De Legibus, 2.9.22
      sacra privata perpetua manento
      Let private devotions be perpetually practised.
  6. (only in plural) Poems (as sacred to the muse).
    • c. 8-18 AD, Ovid, Tristia, 4.10.19
      at mihi iam puero caelestia sacra placebant inque suum furtim Musa trahebat opus
      But even as a boy the heavenly poems delighted me, and the Muse was drawing me secretly to her work.
  7. (only in plural, post-Augustan) Secrets, mysteries.
    • 8 AD, Ovid, Metamorphoses, 7.709
      sacra tori coitusque novos thalamosque recentes primaque deserti referebam foedera lecti
      I told Aurora of our wedding secrets and all refreshing mysteries of coition – and my first union on my now-deserted couch.

Second-declension noun (neuter).

sacrum

  1. inflection of sacer:
    1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
    2. accusative masculine singular

Proto-Indo-European *-rós

Polish sacrum

Unadapted borrowing from Latin sacrum. Doublet of sakra.

sacrum n (indeclinable)

  1. (anthropology) sacrum (the sacred world)
    Antonym: profanum

Borrowed from French sacrum.

sacrum n (uncountable)

  1. sacrum