viscera

American  

[vis-er-uh] / ˈvɪs ər ə /

plural noun

viscus singular

1. Anatomy, Zoology. the organs in the cavities of the body, especially those in the abdominal cavity.

2. (not used scientifically) the intestines; bowels.

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viscera British  

/ ˈvɪsərə /

plural noun

1. anatomy the large internal organs of the body collectively, esp those in the abdominal cavity

2. (less formally) the intestines; guts

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viscera Scientific  

/ vĭs′ər-ə /

1. The soft internal organs of the body, especially those contained within the abdominal and thoracic cavities.

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Etymology

Origin of viscera

First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin: literally “soft, fleshy parts of a body, internal organs, meat” plural of viscus

Explanation

If someone calls you a gutless coward, he's telling you that you lack both courage and viscera. Your viscera are your innards or your guts. In popular usage the term refers to the intestines, but technically it includes all soft internal organs. Viscera comes from the Latin viscus, meaning "an inner part of the body." You won't hear it much nowadays unless you're studying anatomy or describing particularly gory special effects. (Parents object to ultra-violent videogames where bodies explode, spewing viscera.) Don't confuse it with the related visceral, which does crop up often today and means "instinctive." "She had a visceral reaction to seeing her boyfriend and his hunting pals covered in deer blood and viscera, and dumped him the next day."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

viscera viscus

Like a lot of rock's new generation – Nova Twins, Halestorm, Yungblud – she sees no distinction between the shiny allure of a pop hook and the meaty viscera of heavy metal.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2024

The first two were great fun, and apparently being subsumed into the distended viscera of the MCU won’t stop “Deadpool and Wolverine” or whatever from being R-rated fun.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2024

Their efforts help improve our understanding of Earth’s viscera, of Iceland’s volcanic cadence, and of this peninsula’s volcanic dangers.

From National Geographic ● Jul. 24, 2023

There’s no blood, viscera or pulverized bone in the sculptures made by the Baltimore-born Buck, who divides his time between New York and Texas.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2022

He did not chew the peaches, rather, he swallowed them whole as though they were live goldfish with bone and viscera intact.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

What happens is with birria, it becomes almost viscus.

From Salon ● May 18, 2022

On April 1 he was very well, and it was considered very doubtful if any viscus was wounded.

From Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre by Makins, George Henry

The inflammations of this viscus, consequent to the schirrosity of it, belong to the diseases of the sensitive motions, and will be treated of hereafter.

From Zoonomia, Vol. I Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Darwin, Erasmus

Continuous with the stomach are the intestines, which are equally subject to disease, and more exposed to it in an acute form than even the former viscus.

From The Dog by Dinks

In such a case a cystotomy would be indicated were the bullet discovered in the viscus.

From Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre by Makins, George Henry