cross-bone

English

Etymology

From cross +‎ bone, a calque of German Kreuzbein (“sacrum”).

Noun

cross-bone (plural cross-bones)

1. (obsolete, anatomy) The sacrum.
   • 1879, Ernst Haeckel, “Development of the Organs of Motion”, in The Evolution of Man: A Popular Exposition of the Principal Points of Human Ontogeny and Phylogeny, volume 2, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 282:

     Next comes the cross-bone (sacrum), which is inserted between the two halves of the pelvic girdle. This cross-bone consists of five fixed and amalgamated cross-vertebræ.

See also

• crossbones