‖ præcordia Anat.
(priːˈkɔːdɪə)
[L. pl. the midriff, diaphragm, the entrails, f. præ before + cor, cord- the heart.]
The forepart of the thoracic region; the parts or region of the body about the heart.
| [1601 Holland Pliny xxx. v. II. 380 Now that I am come to speake of the precordiall region of the bodie, know this, That by this one word præcordia, I meane the inwards or entrailes in man or woman.] 1681 tr. Willis' Rem. Med. Wks. Vocab., Præcordia, the parts about the heart, as the diaphragma, or midriff. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 234/2 Fainting Fits, Swooning, Sickness at Heart, and other Diseases of the Præcordia. 1803 Med. Jrnl. X. 106 An uncommon degree of oppression at the præcordia. 1863 Aitken Pract. Med. (1866) II. 64 A sense of fluttering in the præcordia, with irregular action of the heart. |
Hence ‖ præcordiˈalgia [Gr. ἄλγος pain], pain referred to the præcordia.
| 1895 in Syd. Soc. Lex. |