Anat. [ad. mod.L. lumbār-is, f. L. lumbus loin.]
A. adj. Of, belonging to, or situated in the loin.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., s.v. Vein, Lumbar vein, the vein of the loins, etc.
1741. Monro, Anat. Nerves (ed. 3), 67. The five lumbar Nerves on each Side communicate with the Intercostal.
1756. Douglas, trans. Winslow’s Struct. Hum. Body (ed. 4), II. 24. The Lumbar Arteries go out posteriorly from the inferior descending Aorta.
1800. Med. Jrnl., III. 232. Invest the whole of the abdominal and lumbar regions with a large … plaster.
1870. Rolleston, Anim. Life, 3. The diaphragm and the lumbar muscles.
1882. Quain’s Dict. Med., 854/2. The skin of the lumbar region is remarkable for its … thickness.
B. sb. [From the elliptical use of the adj.] An artery, nerve, vein or vertebra situated in the loin.
1858. H. Gray, Anat., 518. The first [lumbar nerve] appears between the first and second lumbar vertebræ, and the last between the last lumbar and the base of the sacrum.
1866. Huxley, Preh. Rem. Caithn., 148. The processes [of the vertebræ] are coarser and stronger, and the lower oblique processes of the last lumbar are unusually far apart.
1881. Mivart, Cat, 281. The last dorsal nerve sends back a branch which unites with the first lumbar.
