Home › Glossary › Letter P

Pelvis

Anatomy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The basin-shaped group of bones at the base of the torso. It can signify support, birth, sexuality, injury, or bodily origin.

Detailed Definition
The pelvis is a central structure of balance and support, but poetry often approaches it through its associations with birth, desire, and vulnerability. Its bony shape shelters organs while carrying the weight of the upper body into the legs, making it a potent image of foundation. In poems about pregnancy, trauma, healing, or dance, the pelvis can locate experience below the level of speech. Naming it directly may lend a poem anatomical clarity and resistance to euphemism.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The pelvis carried the child’s first shelter” uses pelvis to evoke pregnancy and protection; “Pain flashed through her pelvis on the icy stairs” gives an injury bodily precision; “The dancer turned from the pelvis, not only the feet” shows how anatomical language can clarify movement; “The ancient pelvis in the museum made the speaker imagine an unknown life” uses bone to connect archaeology and empathy
Additional Notes
The pelvis may ground a poem in weight, balance, reproduction, and bodily history. It is often linked to birth, sexuality, and injury.
Also Known As
Pelvic Girdle Hip Girdle
Skip to main content