Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The part of the body that lies between the thorax and the pelvis and encloses the stomach, intestines, liver, spleen, and pancreas.
  • noun The corresponding region in vertebrates other than mammals.
  • noun The posterior segment of the body in arthropods.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The belly; that part of the body of a mammal which lies between the thorax and the pelvis; the perivisceral cavity containing most of the digestive and some of the urogenital organs and associated structures.
  • noun In vertebrates below mammals, in which there is no diaphragm, and the abdomen consequently is not separated from the thorax, a region of the body corresponding to but not coincident with the human abdomen, and varying in extent according to the configuration of the body.
  • noun In entomology, the hind body, the posterior one of the three parts of a perfect insect, united with the thorax by a slender connecting portion, and containing the greater part of the digestive apparatus.
  • noun In Arthropoda other than insects, the corresponding hinder part of the body, however distinguished from the thorax, as the tail of a lobster or the apron of a crab.
  • noun In ascidians (Tunicata), a special posterior portion of the body, situated behind the great pharyngeal cavity, and containing most of the alimentary canal.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) The belly, or that part of the body between the thorax and the pelvis. Also, the cavity of the belly, which is lined by the peritoneum, and contains the stomach, bowels, and other viscera. In man, often restricted to the part between the diaphragm and the commencement of the pelvis, the remainder being called the pelvic cavity.
  • noun (Zoöl.) The posterior section of the body, behind the thorax, in insects, crustaceans, and other Arthropoda.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the region of the body of a vertebrate between the thorax and the pelvis
  • noun the cavity containing the major viscera; in mammals it is separated from the thorax by the diaphragm

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin abdōmen, belly; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]

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