perineum

See also: Perineum

English

Alternative forms

• perinaeum, perinæum

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin perinaeum, from Ancient Greek περίναιον (perínaion, “space between the anus and scrotum”), from Ancient Greek περίνεος, περίνεοι (períneos, períneoi, “male genitals”), itself from earlier Ancient Greek περίς (perís, “penis”) through influence from Ancient Greek πηρίς (pērís, “scrotum”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɛ.ɹɪˈniː.əm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɛɹ.ɪˈni.əm/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˌpɛɹ.əˈniː.əm/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

perineum (plural perineums or perinea)

1. (anatomy) The region between the human genitalia, especially the scrotum, and anus. The male perineum is between the scrotum and anus. The female perineum is between the vagina and anus.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:perineum

   • 1827, Guy's Hospital: Case of Fistula in Perineo, Successfully Treated: The Lancet, volume 12, page 61:

     He was attacked with complete retention of urine, after a debauch, and six weeks afterwards an abscess formed in the perineum, which eventually burst, leaving a fistulous opening, through which the urine continued to be discharged to the period of his admission into the Hospital.

   • 2005, Brian J. Moran, “27: Using the perineal pressure applicator device”, in Adam P. Dicker, Gregory S. Merrick, Frank M. Waterman, Richard K. Valicenti, Leonar G. Gomella, editors, Basic and Advanced Techniques in Prostate Brachytherapy, page 251:

     The prostate is surrounded by venous plexi and the perineum has a rich blood supply.

   • 2011, Ian Lyons, Biomedical Science: Lecture Notes, page 371:

     The perineum is diamond shaped and stretches from the pubic symphysis to the coccyx.

Derived terms

• perineal

Translations

Translations

• Afrikaans: perineum
• Albanian: perineum m, nënvete (sq) f
• Arabic: عِجَان m (ʕijān)
• Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: շեք (hy) (šekʻ)
• Asturian: perinéu
• Azerbaijani: aralıq (az)
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: পেরিনিয়াম (periniẏam)
• Breton: perine, perineum
• Bulgarian: перинеум (perineum)
• Catalan: perineu m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 會陰／会阴 (wui⁶ jam¹)

  Mandarin: 會陰／会阴 (zh) (huìyīn)

• Czech: hráz (cs) f
• Danish: mellemkød n
• Dutch: perineum (nl) n
• Esperanto: perineo
• Estonian: lahkliha
• Finnish: väliliha (fi)
• French: périnée (fr) m
• Galician: períneo m
• German: Perineum (de) n, Damm (de) m

  Alemannic German: Griggele f

• Greek: περίνεο (el) n (períneo)

  Ancient: περίνεος m (períneos)

• Hebrew: חֵיץ הַנְּקָבַיִים m (kheyts ha-nekavayim)
• Hindi: मूलाधार (hi) m (mūlādhār)
• Hungarian: gát (hu), perineum (hu)
• Icelandic: spöng
• Ido: perineo (io)
• Irish: gibidinic
• Italian: perineo (it) m
• Japanese: 会陰 (ja) (えいん, ein)
• Korean: 회음부(會陰部) (hoeeumbu), 회음(會陰) (hoeeum)
• Latin: perineum n
• Latvian: starpene f
• Lithuanian: tarpvietė f
• Low German: Damm (nds), Perineum
• Macedonian: меѓичка f (meǵička)
• Maori: huinga
• Northern Sami: cahcaoažži
• Norwegian: perineum

  Bokmål: mellomkjøtt n

• Persian: میاندوراه (miyândorâh), عجان ('ejân), پرینه (perine)
• Polish: krocze (pl) n
• Portuguese: períneo (pt) m
• Romanian: perineu (ro) n
• Romansch: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: проме́жность (ru) f (proméžnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мѐђица f

  Roman: mèđica (sh) f

• Sicilian: please add this translation if you can
• Slovak: hrádza
• Slovene: presrédek m
• Spanish: periné (es) m, perineo (es) m
• Swahili: msamba (sw)
• Swedish: mellangård (sv) c, perineum, bäckenbotten c
• Tagalog: kulampang
• Turkish: perine (tr), apış arası
• Ukrainian: проме́жина f (proméžyna)
• Urdu: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: hội âm (會陰)
• Welsh: perinewm, perinëwm m, gwerddyr f
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “perineum”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• Simkin, Oliver. 2016. "Περίς, πηρίς y περίναιος." Emerita: Revista de Lingüística y Filología Clásica, 84.2: 353-362.

Albanian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin perinaeum.

Noun

perineum m (definite perineumi)

1. (anatomy) perineum

Declension

Declension of perineum

	indefinite	definite
nominative	perineum	perineumi
accusative		perineumin
dat./abl.	perineumi	perineumit

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɛrɪnɛu̯m]

Noun

perineum n

1. (anatomy) perineum

Declension

Declension of perineum (semisoft neuter foreign)

	singular	plural
nominative	perineum	perinea
genitive	perinea	perineí
dative	perineu	perineím
accusative	perineum	perinea
vocative	perineum	perinea
locative	perineu	perineích
instrumental	perineem	perinei

Related terms

• perineální

 

Further reading

• perineum in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• perineum in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989