The story
- Middle English · inherited frombakbon
- English todaybackbone
From Middle English bakbon, bakebon, bac-bon; equivalent to back + bone. Compare the semantically analogous English ridgebone.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
backbone
Today it means: The series of vertebrae, separated by disks, that encloses and protects the spinal cord, and runs down the middle of the back in vertebrate animals. Full definition →
Middle English bakbon