loin

UK: /ˈlɔɪn/ US: /lɔɪn/ ,(loin)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

loin /lɔɪn/   n. 

1. Zoology Usually, loins. [plural] the parts of the body of animals that lie on either side of the spine between the ribs and the hipbones.
2. [countable] a cut of meat from this region, esp. one including the adjacent bone.
3. Anatomy, Zoology loins, [plural]
   • the parts of the human body between the hips and the lower ribs, esp. regarded as the seat of physical strength and reproductive power.
   • the genital area;
     the sex organs.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

loin  (loin), n. 

1. Anatomy, Zoology 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, esp. a portion including the vertebrae of such parts. See diag. under beef. 
3. Anatomy, Zoology loins:
   • the parts of the body between the hips and the lower ribs, esp. regarded as the seat of physical strength and generative power.
   • the genital and pubic area;
     genitalia.
4. Idioms gird or gird up one's loins, to prepare oneself for something requiring readiness, strength, or endurance:
   He girded his loins to face his competitor.

• Vulgar Latin *lumbea, noun, nominal use of feminine of *lumbeus of the loins, equivalent. to Latin lumb(us) loin + -eus -eous
• Middle French lo(i)gne, perh.
• Middle English loyne 1275–1325

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

loin / lɔɪn/ noun

1. Also called: lumbus the part of the lower back and sides between the pelvis and the ribs
   Related adjective(s): lumbar
2. a cut of meat from this part of an animal

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French loigne, perhaps from Vulgar Latin lumbra (unattested), from Latin lumbus loin