Etymologically
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pelvic

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈpɛlvɪk/[1]

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

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