‖ ischium
(ˈɪskɪəm)
Pl. ischia (in 7 erron. -ias).
[L. ischium, a. Gr. ἰσχίον hip-joint; later as now used.]
The lowest of the three parts of the os innominatum, the bone on which the body rests when sitting.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. i. 179 If we define sitting to be a firmation of the body upon the Ischias. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., In the ischium is a deep cavity..which receives the head of the thigh-bone. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 61 Those parts of this bony circumference, which receive the heads of the thigh-bone above,..called the ischium or coxendix, are the strongest of all. 1854 Owen Skel. & Teeth in Circ. Sc., Organ. Nat. I. 183 The hæmapophyses of, probably, the last abdominal vertebra, called ‘ischia’,..are detached from the rest of their segment. 1883 Martin & Moale Vertebr. Dissect. 123 The ischium is nearly vertically placed beneath the hinder portion of the ilium. |