STERNUM

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Irregular inflected form: sterna

Meaning:

The flat bone that articulates with the clavicles and the first seven pairs of ribs

Synonyms:

breastbone; sternum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("sternum" is a kind of...):

bone; os (rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates)

Meronyms (parts of "sternum"):

corpus sternum; gladiolus (the large central part of the breastbone)

manubrium (the upper part of the breastbone)

xiphoid process (smallest of the three parts of the breastbone; articulates with the corpus sternum and the seventh rib)

Holonyms ("sternum" is a part of...):

chest; pectus; thorax (the part of the human torso between the neck and the diaphragm or the corresponding part in other vertebrates)

axial skeleton (the part of the skeleton that includes the skull and spinal column and sternum and ribs)

Derivation:

sternal (of or relating to or near the sternum)

Also called sternum.

(Breastbone, NCI Dictionary)