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

They were an odd sight, mechanical viscera never meant to be seen, now exposed to the world.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 23, 2022

They paid cash, no questions asked, and preserved particularly interesting bits of diseased viscera in large clear bottles.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

What happens is with birria, it becomes almost viscus.

From Salon ● May 18, 2022

Which shows only that God in putting him together had not forgotten that viscus the liver which is usual on such occasions….

From Boon, The Mind of the Race, The Wild Asses of the Devil, and The Last Trump; Being a First Selection from the Literary Remains of George Boon, Appropriate to the Times by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

Tapping, or incision followed by extirpation of the injured viscus, if the less severe procedures failed.

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 George Henry Makins

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

These three kinds of agues are thus distinguished; the first is not attended with any tumid or indurated viscus, which the people call an ague cake, and which is evident to the touch.

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