cross-bone

noun

The sacrum.

OriginGerman Kreuzbein →
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Meanings

nouncross-bone (plural cross-bones)

plural cross-bones

  1. obsoleteanatomyThe sacrum.

    Next comes the cross-bone (sacrum), which is inserted between the two halves of the pelvic girdle. This cross-bone consists of five fixed and amalgamated cross-vertebræ.

    1879, Ernst Haeckel, “Development of the Organs of Motion”, in The Evolution of Man: A Popular Exposition of the Principal Points of Human Ontogeny and Phylogeny, volume 2, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 282

Origin

  1. GermanKreuzbein“sacrum”
  2. Englishcross-bone

From cross + bone, a calque of German Kreuzbein (“sacrum”).

More words from German

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Cite this entry
APA

cross-bone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross-bone

MLA

“cross-bone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross-bone. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cross-bone,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cross-bone.

Source: cross-bone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.