umbilicus

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin umbilīcus (“navel”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˌʌmˈbɪlɪkəs/ (UK) IPA(key): /ʌmbɪˈlʌɪkəs/ === Noun === umbilicus (plural umbilici or umbilicuses) (anatomy) A navel. (loosely, sometimes proscribed) Umbilical cord (botany) A hilum. (zoology) A depression or opening in the center of the base of many spiral shells. (zoology) Either of the two apertures in the calamus of a feather. (space science) A tube connecting an astronaut or spacecraft to the mothership, through which supplies and samples can be transferred. 1994, Michael J. Nelson (head writer), "Girls Town", episode 601, Mystery Science Theater 3000 How about a 270 mile tether to an orbiting satellite? Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Frank! Prepare to receive the umbilicus! (geometry, obsolete) One of the foci of an ellipse or other curve. (geometry) A point of a surface at which the curvatures of the normal sections are all equal to each other. (historical) An ornamented or painted ball or boss fastened at each end of the stick on which manuscripts were rolled. ==== Synonyms ==== (navel): omphalos (navel): omphalus ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== == Latin == === Etymology === From Proto-Indo-European *h₃nóbʰōl (“navel”). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ʊm.bɪˈliː.kʊs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [um.biˈliː.kus] === Noun === umbilīcus m (genitive umbilīcī); second declension (anatomy) a navel the middle or center the ornamented end of a scroll ==== Declension ==== Second-declension noun. ==== Descendants ==== === References === “umbilicus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “umbilicus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers “umbilicus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. “umbilicus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers “umbilicus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin