pericardium

P3E1R1I1C3A1R1D2I1U1M3
/ˌpɛɹɪˈkɑː(ɹ)di.əm/

noun

A serous membrane that surrounds the heart allowing it to contract.

Similar
heart sactheca cordis
OriginAncient Greek περικάρδιον →
UncommonScrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounpericardium (plural pericardia or pericardiums)

plural pericardia · plural pericardiums

  1. anatomyA serous membrane that surrounds the heart allowing it to contract.

    The Pericardium is sometimes swelled, as overcharged with too great a quantity of Serous Liquor, making a kind of Dropsie […]

    1685, Samuel Collins, “Of the Diseases of the Pericardium, and their Cures”, in The Second Volume, containing The Parts of the Middle and Highest Apartiment of Man's Body (And other Animals)

    Synonyms: heart sac, theca cordis

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA serous membrane that surrounds the heart allowing it to contract.

Similar
heart sactheca cordis
Also see
heart sactheca cordis

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπερικάρδιον
  2. Ancient Greekπερικάρδιον
  3. Englishpericardium

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek περικάρδιον (perikárdion).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic تَأْمُور
  • تَأْمُور (taʔmūr)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
Catalan pericardi
  • pericardiserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Chinese Mandarin 心包
  • 心包 (xīnbāo)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
Czech osrdečník, osrdečnice
  • osrdečníkserous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • osrdečniceserous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • perikardserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Dutch pericardium, hartzakje
  • pericardiumserous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • hartzakjeserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Finnish sydänpussi, perikardium
  • sydänpussiserous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • perikardiumserous membrane that surrounds the heart
French péricarde
  • péricardeserous membrane that surrounds the heart
German Herzbeutel, Perikard
  • Herzbeutelserous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • Perikardserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Greek περικάρδιο
  • περικάρδιο (perikárdio)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
Icelandic gollurshús
  • gollurshússerous membrane that surrounds the heart
Indonesian perikardium
  • perikardiumserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Italian pericardio
  • pericardioserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Japanese 心嚢
  • 心嚢 (shinnō)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
Korean 심낭, 심막
  • 심낭 (simnang)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • 심막 (simmak)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
Lithuanian širdiplėvė
  • širdiplėvėserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Persian پیراشامه, آبشامه
  • پیراشامه (pirâšâme)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • آبشامه (âb-šâme)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • پریکارد (perikârd)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
Polish osierdzie
  • osierdzieserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Romanian pericard
  • pericardserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Russian перикард, околосе́рдие
  • перикард (perikard)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • околосе́рдие (okolosérdije)serous membrane that surrounds the heart
Spanish pericardio
  • pericardioserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Swedish perikardium, hjärtsäck
  • perikardiumserous membrane that surrounds the heart
  • hjärtsäckserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Tagalog bambampuso
  • bambampusoserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Turkish perikard
  • perikardserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Welsh pilen y galon
  • pilen y galonserous membrane that surrounds the heart
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: pericardium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.