baculum

Etymology

From Latin baculum (“stick, staff, sceptre, cudgel”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbæk.jə.ləm/

Noun

baculum (plural baculums or bacula)

1. A bone found in the penis of some mammals.
   • 2018, Elsa Panciroli, The Guardian, 24 January:

     Bacula can be straight rods, s-shaped curves, or even bizarre, flared scoops.

2. A small rod-like structure found in spores and pollen.

Noun

baculum n (plural bacula)

1. penis bone

Alternative forms

• baculus (rare)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *bakklom, from *bak- (“stick”). Cognate with Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron), βακτηρία (baktēría), English peg. See also beccus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈba.ku.lum/, [ˈba.kʊ.ɫũ]

Noun

baculum n (genitive baculī); second declension

1. walking stick, staff
2. sceptre, rod
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) a support, stay
4. stick, cudgel

References

• baculum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• baculum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• baculum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• baculum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• baculum in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin