Ridgebone

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The spine or backbone of an animal, the central column of bone running along the back
2. The chain of vertebrae forming the spinal column along the back of an animal
3. The central bony ridge along the back of an animal, made up of the spinal vertebrae

Etymology: "Ridgebone" is a plain compound: "ridge" plus "bone." The "ridge" half is the older and more interesting part. In Old English, the back itself was called "hrycg," and the word "hryċġbān" combined that term with "bān," meaning bone, to name the bone running down the back. Over time, the word for the back faded from everyday use while the sense of a ridge, a raised line along a surface, grew out of the same root, so a mountain crest and a roof line are cousins of the animal's spine. The Old English compound survived into Middle English as "rygge-bone" and "rigbone," and the spelling gradually settled toward the modern form. The word stayed close to its literal sense: the bony column of vertebrae that gives an animal its shape along the back.

Synonyms: backbone, spine