sacrum

See also: Sacrum

English

The sacrum in the pelvic girdle

Etymology

From Latin os sacrum (“holy bone”), a calque of Ancient Greek ἱερὸν ὀστέον (hieròn ostéon). Apparently so called either because the sacrum was the part of the animal offered in sacrifice or because of a putative belief that it is where a person's soul resides. A third explanation is that the term is a translation of Ancient Greek ἱερόν (hierón), which has two meanings: “holy, sacred”, and “big” — big being a more appropriate description of the sacrum — but compare.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

sacrum (plural sacra or sacrums)

1. (anatomy) A large triangular bone at the base of the spine, located between the two ilia (wings of the pelvis) and formed from vertebrae that fuse in adulthood.

   Synonym: (obsolete) holy bone

Derived terms

• sacral

Related terms

• nomen sacrum

Translations

bone at the base of the spine

• Armenian: սրբոսկր (hy) (srboskr)
• Bashkir: һигеҙгүҙ (higeźgüź)
• Bulgarian: кръст (bg) m (krǎst), кръстна кост f (krǎstna kost)
• Catalan: sacre (ca) m
• Cebuano: kugongkugong
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 骶骨 (zh) (dǐgǔ)

• Dutch: heiligbeen (nl) n
• Finnish: ristiluu (fi)
• French: sacrum (fr) m
• German: Kreuzbein (de) n
• Greek: ιερό οστό (el) n (ieró ostó)
• Hebrew: עצם העָצֶה
• Hungarian: keresztcsont (hu)
• Icelandic: spjaldbein (is) n, spjaldliðir m pl, spjaldhryggur m
• Ingrian: ristipiiluu
• Irish: sacram m
• Italian: osso sacro (it) m
• Japanese: 仙骨 (ja) (せんこつ, senkotsu), 薦骨 (ja) (せんこつ, senkotsu)
• Korean: 엉치뼈 (eongchippyeo), 천골(薦骨) (ko) (cheon'gol)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: sêbende

• Maori: tikitona, tiraki, tiki
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: ууц (mn) (uuc), ууцан яс (uucan jas) (China), туух нуруу (tuux nuruu) (China)

• Persian: استخوان خاجی (fa)
• Polish: krzyż (pl) m
• Portuguese: sacro (pt) m
• Russian: кресте́ц (ru) m (krestéc)
• Serbo-Croatian: krstača (sh) f
• Spanish: sacro (es) m
• Swedish: korsben n
• Tagalog: kuyukot
• Telugu: త్రికము (te) (trikamu)
• Ukrainian: крижі (kryži)
• Vietnamese: xương mông
• Welsh: sacrwm m, asgwrn y cwman m

Anagrams

• Marcus

Latin

FWOTD – 25 December 2014

Alternative forms

• sacrom (Early Latin)

Etymology

From sacer (“sacred, holy”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.krum/, [ˈs̠äkrʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.krum/, [ˈsäːkrum]

Noun

sacrum n (genitive sacrī); second declension

1. A holy or sacred object, e.g. statue, image, emblem, vessel, utensil.
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.293:

     “‘Sacra suōsque tibī commendat Troia penātēs.’”

     [Aeneas dreams that Hector tells him:] “‘Troy entrusts to you her sacred objects and household gods.’”

2. A holy or sacred place, e.g. sanctuary, shrine, temple.
3. A religious act or observance, e.g. a sacrifice, festival, rite.
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.50:

     “Tū modo posce deōs veniam, sacrīsque litātīs, [...].”

     “You have only to ask the gods for their pardon, and after you have propitiated them with sacrifices, [...].”
     (In other words, Anna assumes that these sacrificial rites will earn Dido a favorable divine response.)

4. Divine worship or religion.
   • c. 54-51 B.C.E., Cicero, De re publica, 2.7.13

     quo foedere et Sabinos in civitatem adscivit sacris conmunicatis et regnum suum cum illorum rege sociavit

     By this compact he admitted the Sabines into the city, gave them a participation in the religious ceremonies, and divided his power with their king.

5. The private religious rites of a family.
   • c. 51 B.C.E., Cicero, De Legibus, 2.9.22

     sacra privata perpetua manento

     Let private devotions be perpetually practised.

6. (only in plural) Poems (as sacred to the muse).
   • c. 8-18 AD, Ovid, Tristia, 4.10.19

     at mihi iam puero caelestia sacra placebant inque suum furtim Musa trahebat opus

     But even as a boy the heavenly poems delighted me, and the Muse was drawing me secretly to her work.

7. (only in plural, post-Augustan) Secrets, mysteries.
   • 8 AD, Ovid, Metamorphoses, 7.709

     sacra tori coitusque novos thalamosque recentes primaque deserti referebam foedera lecti

     I told Aurora of our wedding secrets and all refreshing mysteries of coition – and my first union on my now-deserted couch.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sacrum	sacra
Genitive	sacrī	sacrōrum
Dative	sacrō	sacrīs
Accusative	sacrum	sacra
Ablative	sacrō	sacrīs
Vocative	sacrum	sacra

Adjective

sacrum

1. inflection of sacer:
   1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
   2. accusative masculine singular

Related terms

Related terms

• sacer
• sacerdōs
• sacerdōtālis
• sacerdōtium
• sacerdōtula
• sacrāmentālis
• sacrāmentum
• sacrārium
• sacrārius
• sacrātē
• sacrātiō
• sacrātor
• sacricola
• sacrifer
• sacrificālis
• sacrificātiō
• sacrificātor
• sacrificātus
• sacrificiolus
• sacrificium
• sacrificō
• sacrificulus
• sacrificus
• sacrilegē
• sacrilegium
• sacrilegus
• sacrō
• sacrōsanctus

References

• “sacrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sacrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sacrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• sacrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be present at divine service (of the people): sacris adesse
    
  • to be initiated into the mysteries of a cult: sacris initiari (Quintil. 12. 10. 14)
    
  • (ambiguous) ritual; ceremonial: sacra, res divinae, religiones, caerimoniae
    
  • (ambiguous) to sacrifice: sacra, sacrificium facere (ἱερὰ ῥέζειν), sacrificare
    
  • (ambiguous) to profane sacred rites: sacra polluere et violare
    
• “sacrum”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin sacrum. Doublet of sakra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsa.krum/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -akrum
• Syllabification: sa‧crum

Noun

sacrum n (indeclinable)

1. (anthropology) sacrum (the sacred world)

   Antonym: profanum

Further reading

• sacrum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French sacrum.

Noun

sacrum n (uncountable)

1. sacrum

Declension

declension of sacrum (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) sacrum	sacrumul
genitive/dative	(unui) sacrum	sacrumului
vocative	sacrumule