umbilicus

[ uhm-bil-i-kuhs, uhm-buh-lahy-kuhs ]

noun

, plural um·bil·i·ci [uhm-, bil, -, uh, -sahy, uhm-b, uh, -, lahy, -sahy].

1. Anatomy. the depression in the center of the surface of the abdomen indicating the point of attachment of the umbilical cord to the embryo; navel.
2. Botany, Zoology. a navellike formation, as the hilum of a seed.

umbilicus

/ ʌmˈbɪlɪˌfɔːm; ˌʌmbɪˈlaɪkəs; ʌmˈbɪlɪkəs /

noun

1. biology a hollow or navel-like structure, such as the cavity at the base of a gastropod shell
2. anatomy a technical name for the navel

Derived Forms

• umbiliform, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of umbilicus¹

1605–15; < Latin umbilīcus navel, middle, center; navel

Word History and Origins

Origin of umbilicus¹

C18: from Latin: navel, centre; compare Latin umbō shield boss, Greek omphalos navel

Example Sentences

When one falls in love with a patient who is a famous actor, the umbilicus that had sustained them all their lives is pierced for the first time.

From Los Angeles Times

L.A.’s solution was to annex the two towns, via an umbilicus of land about 16 miles long and sometimes as little as a half-mile wide that ran from the southern city limit to Wilmington and San Pedro — the “city strip” or “shoestring strip.”

From Los Angeles Times

It was his and his alone, an incandescent umbilicus connecting this seven-year-old boy to the firmament.

From The Verge

Australia will colonize the islands to its north and connect by some isthmian umbilicus to Asia.

From Literature

The resident opened the young man’s belly in two moves: with a knife he made a swift, decisive slash down the middle, through the skin, from the rib cage to below his umbilicus, then with open-jawed scissors pushed upward through the linea alba—the tough fibrous tendon that runs between the abdominal muscles—as if it were wrapping paper.

From The New Yorker