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belly

noun
/ˈbɛli/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *balgiz Proto-West Germanic *balgi Old English bielġ Middle English bely English belly Inherited from Middle English bely, beli, bali, below, belew, balyw, from Old English bielġ (“bag, pouch, bulge”), from Proto-West Germanic *balgi, *balgu, from Proto-Germanic *balgiz, *balguz (“skin, hide, bellows, bag”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell, blow up”). Cognate with Dutch balg, German Balg, Danish bælg, Old Irish bolg, Welsh bol. Doublet of bellows, blague, bulge, and budge. See also bellows. For the belly — bellows relation, compare typologically Macedonian мев (mev, “abdomen, belly; bellows”). Also compare Ancient Greek φῦσα (phûsa, “bellows; bladder; ...”), Latin venter — vēsīca, Russian пу́зо (púzo) — пузы́рь (puzýrʹ), пузырёк (puzyrjók).

  1. derived from *bʰelǵʰ-✻ — “to swell, blow up”
  2. inherited from *balgiz✻
  3. inherited from *balgi✻
  4. inherited from bielġ — “bag, pouch, bulge”
  5. inherited from bely

Definitions

  1. The abdomen (especially a fat one).

    • You've grown a belly over Christmas! Time to join the gym again.

  2. stomach (an organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion)

    • My belly was full of wine.

  3. uterus (a reproductive organ of therian mammals in which the young are conceived and…

    uterus (a reproductive organ of therian mammals in which the young are conceived and develop until birth)

    • Before I formed thee in the bellie, I knew thee; […]
  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. The lower fuselage of an airplane.

      • There was no heat, and we shivered in the belly of the plane.

    2. The part of anything which resembles (either closely or abstractly) the human belly in…

      The part of anything which resembles (either closely or abstractly) the human belly in protuberance or in concavity; often, the fundus (innermost part).

      • the belly of a flask, muscle, violin, sail, or ship
      • […] I cried by reason of mine affliction vnto the Lord, and hee heard mee; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voyce.
      • At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose canvas floated broad upon the water […]

    3. To position one’s belly

      To position one’s belly; to move on one’s belly.

      • Bellying forward to the edge of the clearing, he found Hans, lying on his face, feathered with arrows like a porcupine.

    4. To swell and become protuberant

      To swell and become protuberant; to bulge or billow.

      • The Pow'r appeaſ'd, with Winds ſuffic'd the Sail, / The bellying Canvaſs ſtrutted with the Gale; […]
      • The halliards twanged against the tops, the bunting bellied broad,
      • There were trees whose trunks bellied into huge swellings.

    5. To cause to swell out

      To cause to swell out; to fill.

      • Your breath of full consent bellied his sails; […]

The neighborhood

Derived

Bali belly, beer belly, bellyache, belly-aching, belly bag, belly-band, belly band, bellyband, belly boat, belly breathing, belly buster, bellybutton, belly button, belly-button, belly button ring, belly chain, bellycheer, bellycrawl, belly dance, belly-dance, belly dancer, belly-dancer, belly dancing, belly-dumper, belly dumper, belly-flop, belly flop, bellyflop, belly flopper, bellyful, belly-god, belly itcher, belly landing, bellylaugh, belly laugh, belly-laugh, bellyless, bellylike, bellyload, belly of the beast · +81 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at belly. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01belly02young03advanced04difficult05troublesome06anxiety07stomach

A definitional loop anchored at belly. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at belly

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA