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loin

 - 6 dictionary results

loin

  [loin]
Use loin in a Sentence
–noun
1. Usually, loins. the part or parts of the human body or of a quadruped animal on either side of the spinal column, between the false ribs and hipbone.
2. a cut of meat from this region of an animal, esp. a portion including the vertebrae of such parts.
3. loins,
a. the parts of the body between the hips and the lower ribs, esp. regarded as the seat of physical strength and generative power.
b. the genital and pubic area; genitalia.
—Idiom
4. gird or gird up one's loins, to prepare oneself for something requiring readiness, strength, or endurance: He girded his loins to face his competitor.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME loyne < MF lo(i)gne, perh. < VL *lumbea, n. use of fem. of *lumbeus of the loins, equiv. to L lumb(us) loin + -eus -eous
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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loin   (loin)   
n.  

  1. The part of the body of a human or quadruped on either side of the backbone and between the ribs and hips.

  2. One of several cuts of meat, such as tenderloin, taken from this part of an animal's body, typically including the vertebrae of the segment from which it is taken.

  3. loins

    1. The region of the hips, groin, and lower abdomen.

    2. The reproductive organs.


[Middle English loine, from Old French loigne, from Vulgar Latin *lumbea (carō), loin (meat), feminine of *lumbeus, of the loin, from Latin lumbus, loin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

loin 
c.1302, "side of the body of an animal used for food," from O.Fr. loigne, from V.L. *lumbea, from *lumbea caro "meat of the loin," from fem. of *lumbeus, adj. used as a noun, from L. lumbus "loin." Replaced O.E. lendenu "loins," from P.Gmc. *landwin-. The L. word was probably also borrowed from a Germanic source. In ref. to the living human body, it is attested from 1398. In Biblical translations, often used for "that part of the body that should be covered and about which the clothes are bound" (1526). Loincloth is attested from 1859.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: loin
Pronunciation: 'loin
Function: noun
1 : the part of the body of a human or a quadruped that is situated on each side of the spinalcolumn between the hipbone and the false ribs
2 loins pl a : the upper and lower abdominal regions and the region about the hips b (1) : the pubic region (2) : the generative organs —not usually used technically in senses 2a, b
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

loin (loin)
n.
The part of the body on either side of the spinal column between the ribs and the pelvis.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

loin

see gird one's loins.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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