Pelvis

Many medical, physiological, or anatomical terms have origins that we never even think of. Often they are no more than Latin translations of the ailment's appearance, as with erythema nodosum (red nodules) or pityriasis rosea (rosy coloured scurf), but sometimes the origins are far more arcane and interesting.

A fine example lies in the pelvic bones. Pelvis itself comes from the Latin for a basin shape. The acetabulum, the hollowing in the bony pelvis that …