piriformis

• pyriformis

Unadapted borrowing from New Latin pirifōrmis, ellipsis of mūsculus pirifōrmis (“pear-shaped muscle”). Doublet of piriform.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɪ.ɹɪˈfɔː.mɪs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɪɹ.əˈfɔɹ.mɪs/

piriformis (plural piriformes)

1. (anatomy, zootomy) A gluteal muscle which arises from the front of the sacrum and the ischium or sacrotuberous ligament, passes out of the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen, and inserts into the greater trochanter of the femur, serving in humans to rotate the thigh laterally.

• piriformis syndrome

• “pyriformis”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “piriformis”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

• pyrifōrmis

From pirum (“a pear”) +‎ -fōrmis (“-form, -shaped”, adjectival suffix).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [pɪ.rɪˈfoːr.mɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [pi.riˈfɔr.mis]

pirifōrmis (neuter pirifōrme); third-declension two-termination adjective (New Latin)

1. pear-shaped, pyriform
   • Hans Sloane, Catalogus plantarum quae in insula Jamaica page 185:

     Prunifera arbor, fructu maximo pyriformi viridi, pericarpio esculento butyraceo nucleum unicum maximum nullo ossiculo tectum , cingente.

     A fruit-bearing tree with large, green, pear-shaped fruit, and esculent, buttery flesh surrounding a single, large, shell-less core.

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

• → English: pyriform, piriform; piriformis, pyriformis
• → Spanish: piriforme