Meanings
nounbreastbone (plural breastbones)
plural breastbones · alternative breast bone
- anatomyThe central narrow bone in the front of the chest, connecting the collarbone and the top ribs.
He lapped out of his hand, then sat up in the sunlight, crossing his shins in front of him, and after a time let his woolly head fall on his breastbone.
1899 (please specify the page), Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, partSynonyms: sternum
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe central narrow bone in the front of the chest, connecting the collarbone and the top ribs.
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More synonyms by meaning
nounthe flat bone that articulates with the clavicles and the first seven pairs of ribs
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Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishbrēostbān“breastbone”
- Middle Englishbrust-bon
- Englishbreastbone
From Middle English brust-bon, brestbon, from Old English brēostbān (“breastbone”), equivalent to breast + bone.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans borsbeen
- borsbeenthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Ancient Greek στέρνον
- στέρνον (stérnon)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Arabic قَصّ
- قَصّ (qaṣṣ)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Bengali বক্ষাস্থি
- বক্ষাস্থি (bokkhasthi)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Bulgarian гръдна кост
- гръдна кост (grădna kost)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Catalan estern, estèrnum
- esternthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- estèrnumthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Chinese Cantonese 胸骨
- 胸骨the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Chinese Mandarin 胸骨
- 胸骨 (xiōnggǔ)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Czech hrudní kost
- hrudní kostthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Dutch borstbeen
- borstbeenthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Esperanto sternumo
- sternumothe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Estonian rinnak
- rinnakthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Finnish rintalasta
- rintalastathe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
French sternum
- sternumthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
German Brustbein, Sternum
- Brustbeinthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- Sternumthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Hebrew עצם החזה, מַפְתֵּחַ הַלֵּב
- עצם החזה (etzem ha'khaze)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- מַפְתֵּחַ הַלֵּב (mafteáẖ hallév)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Hindi उरोस्थि
- उरोस्थि (urosthi)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Hungarian szegycsont, mellcsont
- szegycsontthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- mellcsontthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Icelandic bringubein, brjóstbein
- bringubeinthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- brjóstbeinthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Indonesian tulang dada, sternum
- tulang dadathe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- sternumthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- tulang rawanthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Irish cnámh uchta, steirneam
- cnámh uchtathe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- steirneamthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Italian sterno
- sternothe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Japanese 胸骨
- 胸骨 (kyōkotsu)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Korean 가슴뼈
- 가슴뼈 (gaseumppyeo)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Latin sternum
- sternumthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Lithuanian krūtinkaulis
- krūtinkaulisthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Malay tulang dada, sternum
- tulang dadathe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- sternumthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- tulang papanthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- tulang rimau menangisthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- tulang rawanthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Māori whaturei
- whatureithe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Persian جناغ
- جناغ (jenâġ)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Polish mostek
- mostekthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Portuguese esterno
- esternothe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Russian груди́на, грудна́я кость
- груди́на (grudína)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- грудна́я кость (grudnája kostʹ)the central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Scottish Gaelic cnàimh a' chlèibh
- cnàimh a' chlèibhthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Slovak hrudná kosť
- hrudná kosťthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Spanish esternón
- esternónthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Swedish bröstben
- bröstbenthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Tagalog butundibdib
- butundibdibthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Turkish göğüs kemiği, sternum
- göğüs kemiğithe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- sternumthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
- iman tahtasıthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Vietnamese xương ức
- xương ứcthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Welsh asgwrn dwyfron
- asgwrn dwyfronthe central narrow bone in the front of the chest
Cite this entry
APA
breastbone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breastbone
MLA
“breastbone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breastbone. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “breastbone,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/breastbone.
Source: breastbone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.