belly

Meaning

Noun

1. The abdomen (especially a fat one).
2. stomach (an organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion)
3. (countable) uterus (a reproductive organ of therian mammals in which the young are conceived and develop until birth)
4. The lower fuselage of an airplane.
5. The part of anything which resembles (either closely or abstractly) the human belly in protuberance or in concavity; often, the fundus (innermost part).
6. The part of anything which resembles (either closely or abstractly) the human belly in protuberance or in concavity; often, the fundus (innermost part).
7. The part of anything which resembles (either closely or abstractly) the human belly in protuberance or in concavity; often, the fundus (innermost part).

Verb

1. To position one’s belly; to move on one’s belly.
2. (intransitive) To swell and become protuberant; to bulge or billow.
3. (transitive) To cause to swell out; to fill.

Synonyms

stomach

abdomen

paunch

tummy

womb

venter

belly out

bulge

potbelly

billow

intestine

intestines

bloat

protuberate

distend

midriff

entrails

gut

guts

ground

inside

interior

liver

loop

➿

lower

maw

mount

mounting

pig

🐖

platform

pop

pot

pot-belly

pregnant

protrude

protuberance

puff out

rumen

seat

💺

solar plexus

support

tum

uterus

ventral

waist

web

antinode

bow window

de novo

leather bag

Translations

ventre

barriga

Bauch

pancia

vientre

κοιλιά

buik

barriga

ventre

estomac

abdomen

estómago

panza

panse

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbɛli/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: bely

Inherited from Old English: bielġ

Cognate with Dutch: balg

Cognate with German: Balg

Cognate with Danish: bælg

Cognate with Old Irish: bolg

Cognate with Welsh: bol

In summary

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 connection 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).