pelvic

Etymology

It is formed from English pelvis + -ic,^[2][3][4][5] which Etymonline and Klein call an irregular formation;^[6][5] Etymonline adds that the OED once preferred the better-formed French pelvien.^[6] The OED compares French pelvique, recorded in Cuvier in 1805.^[2] Pelvis is from Latin pelvis (“basin”),^[7][6][8] perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“container”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the pelvis: 1799, in R. Saumarez's New System of Physiology.^[2][4] Etymonline dates it to 1822, and Dictionary.com to 1820–30.^[6][9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its anatomical meaning.^[2][3] In 1854 it was also used in zoology of the pelvis of a crinoid, a rare sense now obsolete.^[2] The Shorter Oxford lists the compounds pelvic arch or pelvic girdle, pelvic fin (a fish's ventral fin) and pelvic floor (the muscular base of the abdomen).^[3] Merriam-Webster also has a noun pelvic, a pelvic bone or fin.^[4]

Timeline

• 1799 – of or relating to the pelvis.^[2][4]
• 1822 – first date in Etymonline.^[6]
• 1854 – zoology, of the pelvis of a crinoid (obsolete).^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to, or located in or near the pelvis: She was treated for a pelvic fracture.^[10][4][2]

Noun

1. A pelvic part, such as a bone or a fin.^[4]

Word family

• pelvic arch
• pelvic girdle
• pelvic fin
• pelvic inflammatory disease

Related words

• pelvis

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins