sacrum Anat.
(ˈseɪkrəm)
Pl. sacrums, sacra.
[Subst. use of neut. sing. of L. sacer sacred: see os sacrum s.v. os.]
A composite, symmetrical, triangular bone which articulates laterally with the ilia, forming the dorsal wall of the pelvis and resulting from the ankylosis of two or more vertebræ between the lumbar and coccygeal regions of the spinal column.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Sacro-sciatic, The false transverse apophyses of the sacrum. 1797 Abernethy Surg. & Physiol. Ess. iii. 137 The medulla spinalis, or a substance of an apparently similar nature, was continued into the sacrum. 1845 Todd & Bowman Phys. Anat. I. 140 The spinal column, in man,..rests upon the sacrum. 1881 Trans. Obstet. Lond. XXII. 74 There are [in a double⁓headed human monster] two well-developed sacra, placed side by side. 1886 J. M. Duncan Dis. Women (ed. 3) 438 A clergyman's wife was thrown out of a little pony phaeton, and fell on her sacrum. 1890 Coues Ornith. ii. iii. 138 The numerous anchylosed..vertebræ compose the sacrum. |