sciatic

American  

[sahy-at-ik] / saɪˈæt ɪk /

adjective

Anatomy.

1. of, pertaining to, situated near, or affecting the ischium or back of the hip.

2. affecting the hip or the sciatic nerves.

---

noun

1. a sciatic part, as a nerve, vein, or artery.

sciatic British  

/ saɪˈætɪk /

adjective

1. anatomy of or relating to the hip or the hipbone

2. of, relating to, or afflicted with sciatica

---

Other Word Forms

• nonsciatic adjective
• sciatically adverb

Etymology

Origin of sciatic

1535–45; < Medieval Latin sciaticus, alteration of Greek ischiadikós ischiadic ( def. )

Example Sentences

Sciatica is pain or numbness that follows the path of the sciatic nerve from the lower back down the leg.

From Barron's • Oct. 9, 2025

A glute strain began affecting his sciatic nerve and the pain left Bosa unable to do anything except lie on an exercise ball in the fetal position for hours.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2024

According to a study published in Nature Materials, the researchers showed the material can be used to precisely stimulate neurons remotely and to bridge the gap in a broken sciatic nerve in a rat model.

From Science Daily • Oct. 10, 2023

Ms Mallett said she underwent the surgery to remove a nerve which was causing her sciatic pain, on 18 December 2012, but had been given no insight since into what went wrong.

From BBC • Jun. 24, 2023

He used an electric current to stimulate an amphibian’s calf, then employed the galvanometer to measure how long it took the electrical current to run along the sciatic nerve.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel