pastern

[ pas-tern ]

/ ˈpæs tərn /

noun

the part of the foot of a horse, cow, etc., between the fetlock and the hoof.

either of the two bones of this part, the upper or first phalanx (great pastern bone) and the lower or second phalanx (small pastern bone), between which is a joint (pastern joint).

Nearby words

pastedown, pastel, pastel orange, pastelist, paster, pastern, pasternak, pasternak, boris, pasternak, boris leonidovich, pasteur, pasteur effect

Origin of pastern

1300–50; Middle English pastron shackle, probably same word as Middle French pasturon, pastern < Vulgar Latin *pastōria herding (see pastor, -ia) + Middle French -on noun suffix

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

Examples from the Web for pastern

The shoulder should slope slightly backward and the pastern joint, immediately above the hoof, slightly backward.
A Guide for the Study of Animals|Worrallo Whitney
The pastern joints above his striped hoofs were resilient as pliant springs.
Tharon of Lost Valley|Vingie E. Roe
It was not the leg of the horse which was severed, nor a limb, but only the hoof at the pastern joint.
Legends of Florence|Charles Godfrey Leland
The pastern joint is made by the union of the two pastern bones.
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse|United States Department of Agriculture

In the most severe cases, the skin cracked about the pastern joint or at the coronet.
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 12, March 22, 1884|Various

British Dictionary definitions for pastern

pastern

/ (ˈpæstən) /

noun

the part of a horse's foot between the fetlock and the hoof

Also called: fetter bone either of the two bones that constitute this part

Word Origin for pastern

C14: from Old French pasturon, from pasture a hobble, from Latin pāstōrius of a shepherd, from pastor

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 pastern

pastern

late 13c., "shackle fixed on the foot of a horse or other beast," from Old French pasturon (Modern French paturon), diminutive of pasture "shackle for a horse in pasture," from Vulgar Latin *pastoria, noun use of fem. of Latin pastorius "of herdsmen," from pastor "shepherd" (see pastor). Metathesis of -r- and following vowel occurred 1500s. Sense extended (1520s) to part of the leg to which the tether was attached.