loin

[loin] /lɔɪn/
noun
1.
Usually, loins. the part or parts of the human body or of a quadruped animal on either side of the spinal column, between the false ribs and hipbone.
2.
a cut of meat from this region of an animal, especially a portion including the vertebrae of such parts.
3.
loins.
  1. the parts of the body between the hips and the lower ribs, especially regarded as the seat of physical strength and generative power.
  2. the genital and pubic area; genitalia.
Idioms
4.
gird (up) one's loins, to prepare oneself for something requiring readiness, strength, or endurance:
He girded his loins to face his competitor.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English loyne < Middle French lo(i)gne, perhaps < Vulgar Latin *lumbea, noun use of feminine of *lumbeus of the loins, equivalent to Latin lumb(us) loin + -eus -eous
Examples from the web for loins
  • Whole rabbits and pork loins can always be seen turning on one of the spits, the rabbits the size of large roasting chickens.
  • It was as though a deed of conveyance of her narrow loins had been drawn and sealed.
  • Health officials and researchers, increasingly divided among themselves, are already girding their loins for a right dust-up.
  • If you disagree, that's fine, but you might wanna gird your loins.
  • Only the choice cuts of pork go into this product: loins, hams, boned shoulders.
  • Certain themes are always good for a dramatic tug of war, and among them is spiritual fulfillment versus the loins.
  • Wildly beating hearts, not to mention throbbing loins, have been demoted.
  • Gird up the loins, brace yourself for vigorous action, or energetic endurance.
  • And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
  • Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning.
British Dictionary definitions for loins

loins

/lɔɪnz/
plural noun
1.
the hips and the inner surface of the legs where they join the trunk of the body; crotch
2.
  1. (euphemistic) the reproductive organs
  2. (mainly literary) the womb

loin

/lɔɪn/
noun
1.
(anatomy) Also called lumbus. the part of the lower back and sides between the pelvis and the ribs related adjective lumbar
2.
a cut of meat from this part of an animal
See also loins
Word Origin
C14: from Old French loigne, perhaps from Vulgar Latin lumbra (unattested), from Latin lumbus loin
Word Origin and History for loins

loin

n.

early 14c., "side of the body of an animal used for food," from Old French loigne "hip, haunch, lumbar region," from Vulgar Latin *lumbea, from *lumbea caro "meat of the loin," from fem. of *lumbeus, adjective used as a noun, from Latin lumbus "loin" (see lumbago).

Replaced Old English lendenu "loins," from Proto-Germanic *landwin- (cf. German Lende "loin," Lenden "loins;" Old High German lenti, Old Saxon lendin, Middle Dutch lendine, Dutch lende, Old Norse lend).

The Latin word perhaps was borrowed from a Germanic source. In reference to the living human body, it is attested from late 14c. In Biblical translations, often used for "that part of the body that should be covered and about which the clothes are bound" (1520s). Related: Loins.

loins in Medicine

loin (loin)
n.
The part of the body on either side of the spinal column between the ribs and the pelvis.

Idioms and Phrases with loins

loin

see: gird one's loins