humerus

[hyoo-mer-uh s or, often, yoo-]

noun, plural hu·mer·i [hyoo-muh-rahy, or, often, yoo-] /ˈhyu məˌraɪ, or, often, ˈyu-/. Anatomy.

the long bone in the arm of humans extending from the shoulder to the elbow.

Zoology. a corresponding bone, structure, or region in the forelimbs of other animals or in the wings of birds or insects.

Origin of humerus

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin (h)umerus shoulder; cognate with Greek ômos, Gothic ams, Sanskrit ámsas

Can be confusedhumerus humorous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for humerus

Historical Examples of humerus

Isn't it at the lower third of the humerus, where the flexors divide?
Barrington
Charles James Lever
Entry and exit, in the upper third of the arm internal to the humerus.
Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900
George Henry Makins
There was no evident displacement of the head of the humerus forwards.
Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900
George Henry Makins
This is met with chiefly in the humerus and in the clavicle.
Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities--Head--Neck. Sixth Edition.
Alexander Miles
There had apparently been a fracture of the lower end of the humerus.
Castes and Tribes of Southern India
Edgar Thurston

British Dictionary definitions for humerus

humerus

noun plural -meri (-məˌraɪ)

the bone that extends from the shoulder to the elbow

the corresponding bone in other vertebrates

Word Origin for humerus

C17: from Latin umerus; related to Gothic ams shoulder, Greek ōmos

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for humerus

1706, "bone of the upper arm," originally (14c.) "shoulder," a misspelled borrowing of Latin umerus "shoulder," from PIE *om(e)so- (cf. Sanskrit amsah, Greek omos, Old Norse ass, Gothic ams "shoulder").

humerus in Medicine