French Conversation · Level 80
60 words
French word
vertèbre
Pronunciation
IPA/vɛʁtɛbʁ/
Meaning
- feminine nounvertebra
Example
Le médecin a examiné la vertèbre douloureuse.
The doctor examined the painful vertebra.
More examples
Il s'est cassé une vertèbre en faisant du sport.
He broke a vertebra while playing sports.
Core concept
An interlocking bone in the spinal column that shields the spinal cord while allowing the trunk to bend and turn.
Common phrases
fracture d'une vertèbre
fracture of a vertebra
vertèbre lombaire
lumbar vertebra
vertèbre cervicale
cervical vertebra
Similar words
dos: The back of the body from the shoulders to around the waist.
colonne vertébrale: A row of bones from the head to the pelvis that supports the body and houses the spinal cord.
os: A hard body tissue that supports the body and protects internal organs; also, an individual bone.
Definition in French
Chacun des os individuels qui forment la colonne vertébrale et protègent la moelle épinière tout en permettant le mouvement du tronc.
Word origin
French vertèbre comes through Old French from Latin vertebra, a noun related to vertere, 'to turn', reflecting the movement of linked spinal bones.
Usage tips
- Vertèbre is feminine, so standard forms include une vertèbre and la vertèbre, not un vertèbre.
Related words
- vertébralvertebraladjective
- vertébrévertebratenoun