coccyx

From Latin coccyx, from Ancient Greek κόκκυξ (kókkux, “cuckoo”), referring to the curved shape of a cuckoo's beak when viewed from the side.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑksɪks/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒksɪks/

• Audio (US):

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coccyx (plural coccyges)

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.”

• tailbone (informal)

• bone

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

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κόκκυξ (kókkux).

• IPA^(key): /kɔk.sis/

• Audio:

  (file)

coccyx m (plural coccyx)

1. (anatomy) coccyx, tailbone

• “coccyx”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κόκκῡξ (kókkūx).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkok.kyːks/, [ˈkɔkːyːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkot.t͡ʃiks/, [ˈkɔtː͡ʃiks]

coccȳx m (genitive coccȳgis); third declension

1. (anatomy) coccyx

Third-declension noun.

• “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.

coccyx m (invariable)

1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of cóccix.