The omentum; spec. the greater omentum, a fold of peritoneum passing from the stomach to the transverse colon and hanging in front of the intestines.
a1400
Þoruȝ þe same breking þe bowels falliþ adoun ouþir zirbus.
translation of Lanfranc, Science of Cirurgie (Ashmole MS.) (1894) 270 (Middle English Dictionary)
?c1425
Lay þe pacient vpriȝt on his bak, and put yn aȝen þe intestynes or guttes and zirbus..and bynde it with a strong þrede.
translation of Guy de Chauliac, Grande Chirurgie (Paris MS.) (1971) 500 (Middle English Dictionary)
c1475(1392)
Wherfore it schewiþ þat zirbus ys cold and drie by cause of þe tweye membris of whom he is compouned, and þou schalt vndirstonde þat zirbus & Omentum is al oon þing.
Surgical Treatises in MS Wellcome 564 f. 41 (Middle English Dictionary)
[Composed 1392]
1543
For whan zirbus commethe out of the wounde, putrefaction must nedes ensue.
B. Traheron, translation of J. de Vigo, Most Excellent Workes of Chirurgeryeiii.i. f. C.iv/2
1597
The Zirbus or fat, commonly called the Caule, issued foorth, with the guts likewise.
J. Gerard, Herballii. 853
a1654
You may know when the Intestines is descended by noise that it will make..; but if it be the Zirbus, it makes no noise.
N. Culpeper, School of Physick (1659) 211
1682
We..doubt whether this also may not have tempted our Predecessors immediately to cut off the elapsed part of the Zirbus, without trying whether they could reduce or preserve it.
J. Yonge, Wounds of Brain 123
1917
The wound made by the missile was of such a nature that it permitted a large portion of the ‘zirbus’ (omentum)..to protrude from the opening.
Medicine and Surgery. The middle (umbilical or mesogastric) region of the abdomen, between the epigastrium and the hypogastrium. Cf. mesogastric, adj.…
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
iːfleece
ihappy
ɪkit
ɛdress
atrap, bath
ɑːstart, palm, bath
ɒlot
ɔːthought, force
ʌstrut
ʊfoot
uːgoose
əletter
əːnurse
ɪənear
ɛːsquare
ʊəcure
eɪface
ʌɪpride
aʊmouth
əʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ãgratin
ɒ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
ifleece, happy
ɪkit
ɛdress
ætrap, bath
ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
ɑrstart
ɔcloth, thought
ɔrnorth, force
ʊfoot
ugoose
əstrut, comma
ərnurse, letter
ɪ(ə)rnear
ɛ(ə)rsquare
ʊ(ə)rcure
eɪface
aɪpride
aʊmouth
oʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ɑ̃gratin
æ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values