sternum

Borrowed from New Latin sternum, related to Old English steorn (“forehead”), German Stirn (“forehead”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstɜː.nəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstɝ.nəm/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəm

sternum (plural sterna or sternums)

1. (anatomy) The breastbone, consisting of the manubrium, gladiolus, and xiphoid process. [from 1660]
   • 2020, Akwaeke Emezi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Faber & Faber, page 231:

     The neckline fell into a V, showing the bone of his sternum.

2. (arachnology) The sclerotized ventral plate of spiders, between the coxae, marking the floor of the cephalothorax.

• bone

• “sternum”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “sternum”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “sternum”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• Munster, Munters, Münster, munters

• IPA^(key): [ˈstɛrnum]

sternum n

1. sternum, breastbone

   Synonym: hrudní kost

• “sternum”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “sternum”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

• IPA^(key): /stɛʁ.nɔm/

• Audio:

  (file)

sternum m (plural sternums)

1. sternum, breastbone

• “sternum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek στέρνον (stérnon, “breast, chest; breastbone”).

• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈst̪ɛr.num]

sternum n (genitive sternī); second declension (New Latin)

1. (anatomy) The breastbone.

Second-declension noun (neuter).

• → Catalan: estèrnum, estern
• → Czech: sternum
• → English: sternum
• → French: sternum
• → Irish: steirneam