noun
- the part of the lower limb in humans between the hip and the knee.
- the corresponding part of the hind limb of other animals; the femoral region.
- (in birds)
- the true femoral region that is hidden by the skin or feathers of the body.
- the segment below, containing the fibula and tibia.
- Entomology. the femur.
noun
- the part of the leg between the hip and the knee in man
- the corresponding part in other vertebrates and insects
n.Old English þeoh, þeh, from Proto-Germanic *theukhom (cf. Old Frisian thiach, Old Dutch thio, Dutch dij, Old Norse þjo, Old High German dioh), from PIE *teuk- from root *teu- “to swell” (cf. Lithuanian taukas, Old Church Slavonic tuku, Russian tuku “fat of animals;” Lithuanian tukti “to become fat;” Greek tylos “callus, lump,” tymbos “burial mound, grave, tomb;” Old Irish ton “rump;” Latin tumere “to swell,” tumulus “raised heap of earth,” tumor “a swelling;” Middle Irish tomm “a small hill,” Welsh tom “mound”). Thus thigh is literally “the thick or fat part of the leg.” n.
- The part of the leg between the hip and the knee.femur