protuberance

American  

[proh-too-ber-uhns, -tyoo-, pruh-] / proʊˈtu bər əns, -ˈtyu-, prə- /

noun

1. the condition, state, or quality of being protuberant.

2. a protuberant part or thing; projection or bulge.

   Synonyms:

   swelling, protrusion

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Other Word Forms

• nonprotuberance noun
• protuberantial adjective

Etymology

Origin of protuberance

First recorded in 1640–50; protuber(ant) + -ance

Explanation

A protuberance is something that sticks out, like a swelling or a lump or a bunion on your foot. A protuberance doesn’t have to be hideous; it could be your nose on your face or a knot on a tree. The late Latin word prōtūberāre meant "to swell," coming from the prefix pro, which means "forward," and the root word tūber, meaning "swelling." And "root word" is appropriate here, since a tuber is a thick, fleshy part of a root, like a potato. And that should help you remember how to spell the word protuberance. Don't you love it when a word's meaning and its spelling work together?

Example Sentences

Normally, turkeys top out around 20 pounds, with fleshy wattles that hang down their necks and another protuberance called a snood hanging over the beak.

From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2022

What looks like a peanut-shaped head on these planthoppers from American and Caribbean rain forests is really a hollow protuberance that shields their real noggin.

From National Geographic • Jun. 23, 2018

Consisting of four different species in Spain, horseshoe bats may be distinguished from other bats by the horseshoe shape of their leaf-like nose protuberance.

From Scientific American • Aug. 31, 2017

It’s a pale, translucent, fleshy protuberance the size of a soccer ball that seems to glow in the dripping shade, its complicated folds an unnerving cross between boiled tripe and a sea sponge.

From New York Times • Nov. 6, 2015

She thought she could see the white protuberance of bone.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan