umbilicus

American  

[uhm-bil-i-kuhs, uhm-buh-lahy-kuhs] / ʌmˈbɪl ɪ kəs, ˌʌm bəˈlaɪ kəs /

noun

plural

umbilici

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.

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umbilicus British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• umbiliform adjective

Etymology

Origin of umbilicus

1605–15; < Latin umbilīcus navel, middle, center; 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 • Jun. 21, 2023

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

From The Verge • Jun. 25, 2018

The surgeons began by making incisions above the umbilicus and beneath the left and right sides of the rib cage.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 19, 2016

The small skiffs, each provisioned with gas, net, cooler, and life jackets, form a bobbing line against the early dawn sky, an umbilicus connecting our ship to the sea.

From Scientific American • Oct. 30, 2015

There was, for instance, a scarcity of hope on Middlesex, where his wife no longer felt any stirrings in her spiritual umbilicus.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides