ABDOMEN

(Lat.), n.n. Gen., abdominis. Gr., Aamdpa, yaoThp, DroydarTpıoV, ATpov, mepiTôvasov. Fr., abdomen, ventre, bas-ventre. Ger., Unterleib, Hinterleib (in the lower animals), Bauch, Wanst. It., addome, addomine, ventre. Sp., abdomen, vientre, bajo vientre. Syn.: venter, venter infimus (seu ims), alvus, uterus [Celsus, A, 322]. Of doubtful etymology, generally said to be from abdere, to conceal, and omen (either in the sense of a presage, from the ancient augurs' baving found their inspiration in its contents, or as a contraction of omentum) —so that the word would siguify either that which conceals the omen or that which conceals the omentum. [A, 300.] Kraus considers it more likely to have come from the Hebrew 727"5x, the father (or source) of ordure. [A, 322.) The word is said to have been first used in English writing by Copland, in 1541. [B, 39.] 1. The belly; being that one of the great visceral cavities of the body which is bounded by the diaphragm above and the floor of the pelvis (or, in a more restricted sense, the plane of the pelvic entrance) below. 2. (Obs.) the genitals. 3. (Fig.) gluttony. —Abdominis exploratio. A physical examination of the abdomen. —Pendulous a. Lat., venter propend ulus. Fr., ventre avalé (ou en besace), prolapsus profond (ou par iétoviscéral) de la parot abdominale {Guéniot, ** Arch. de tocol.,’? May, 1885, p. 425]. “Ger., Hängebauch. It., ventre avvallato. Sp., vientre caido. An abnormal protrusion of the anterior wall of the ahdomen and its sinking downward in front of the pubic arch. The term should be restricted to that condition in which the weight of the abdominal contents fails to be supported properly, from lack of tone in the muscles, but it is sometimes applied to the prominence due to an accumulation of fat. When the state first referred to occurs during pregnancy it is often spoken of as a form of anteversion of the gravid uterus. See also EVENTRATION and ProLAPSUS grai eux.