cuttlebone

English

WOTD – 24 October 2023

Etymology

The lower surface of a cuttlebone, probably of a kisslip cuttlefish (Sepia lycidas).

From Middle English cotilbone [and other forms], from cotil, cutil, codel (“cuttlefish; cuttlebone”) (from Old English cudele (“cuttlefish”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, to curve; an arch; a vault”)) + bon (“bone”) (from Old English bān (“bone”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit, strike; to cut, hew”)). The English word is analysable as cuttle (“cuttlefish”) +‎ bone.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌtl̩bəʊn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌt(ə)lˌboʊn/, [-ɾ(ə)l-]
• Hyphenation: cut‧tle‧bone

Noun

cuttlebone (plural cuttlebones)

1. Synonym of cuttlefish bone (“the calcareous, oval-shaped internal shell of a cuttlefish (order Sepiida), originally used in powdered form as an antacid and for absorbing moisture or polishing objects, and now chiefly as a dietary supplement for cage birds”)

   Synonyms: (archaic) sepiostaire, (archaic) sepium, (archaic) osselet

Related terms

• cuttle
• cuttlefish

Translations

synonym of cuttlefish bone — see cuttlefish bone

Further reading

• cuttlebone on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “cuttle-bone, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
• “cuttlebone, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.