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pelvis

noun

Simple meaning

The large compound bone structure at the base of the spine that supports the legs in hominids.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pehlvuhs

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpɛlvəs

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. anatomy

    The large compound bone structure at the base of the spine that supports the legs in hominids.

  2. anatomy

    A structure shaped like a funnel in the outlet of the kidney into which urine is discharged before passing into the ureter

  3. anatomy

    A funnel-shaped cavity, especially such a cavity in the kidney into which urine passes towards the ureter.

  4. looselyby extension

    The pelvic region of the human body.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The large compound bone structure at the base of the spine that supports the legs in hominids.

Used this way, pelvis is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Medicine/healthcare
  • Science
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Large / structure

renal pelvisbony pelviskidney pelvis

Other combinations

female pelvistrue pelviscontracted pelvismale pelvismaternal pelvis

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • renal pelvisnounCompound term

    A structure shaped like a funnel in the outlet of the kidney into which urine is discharged before passing into the ureter.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • pelvicadjectiveRelated term

    Of or relating to the pelvis.

  • pelvic cavitynounRelated term

    The space bounded by the bones of the pelvis and containing the pelvic viscera.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.