First recorded in 1650–60, anus is from the Latin word ānus ring, anus
< Latin -ānus; see -an
The anus is the hole in the middle of your buttocks. When you poop or fart, you're using your anus. When you talk about your anus, you're using a formal, scientific word. Many kids and adults are more likely to use a slangy term like butthole or bunghole when discussing their anus, but if you're speaking to adults or writing a paper, anus is the word you want. The anus might seem like a funny part of the body, and maybe it is, but it's also incredibly important. Without an anus, you'd die.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They lack a mouth, anus, and digestive tract, yet they survive by drilling root-like structures into bone.
From Science Daily • Dec. 28, 2025
You’re also at risk of developing hemorrhoids—swollen veins in the anus and lower rectum that can cause pain and bleeding—according to a study that came out last week.
From Slate • Sep. 12, 2025
The latest discoveries include a map of the gut all the way from the mouth, down the oesphagus, into the stomach and intestines and out the anus.
From BBC • Nov. 20, 2024
This bacteria comes from the mother’s anus as the baby is positioned head down, facing its mother’s back, with its chin tucked to its chest.
From Salon • May 10, 2024
At the second it was in position at the base of his tail, Richard Parker’s anus distended, and out of it, like a bubble-gum balloon, came a black sphere of excrement.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
