rump

Pronunciation: /ˈɹʌmp/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the part of an animal that corresponds to the human buttocks
  2. noun fleshy hindquarters; behind the loin and above the round
  3. noun the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on

Etymology

From Middle English rumpe, from Old Norse rumpr (“rump”), from Middle Low German rump (“the bulk or trunk of a body, trunk of a tree”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rumpō (“trunk of a tree, log”). The ultimate origin could be related to Proto-Germanic *hrimpaną (“to wrinkle”) (Dutch rimpel and German rümpfen (“to wrinkle”)); outside of Germanic, compare Ancient Greek ῥάμφος (rhámphos, “crooked beak”). Cognate with Icelandic rumpur (“rump”), Swedish rumpa (“rump”), Dutch romp (“trunk, body, hull”), German Rumpf (“hull, trunk, torso, trunk”). In the sense of remnant, first attested in the Rump Parliament of 1648; its original meaning here was a reference to the rotten, unclean hindquarters of an animal, gradually morphing to refer to the "remnant" aspect of the Parliament rather than its perceived unsavory nature.

In classic literature

Synonyms

hindquarters, croup, croupe

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
body part
Narrower (hyponyms)
haunch

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