Sternum

The story of the word

Homer uses στέρνον for the chest a spear goes into, not for any single bone. Anatomists of the 17th century narrowed it to the breastplate itself, and cardiac surgeons still speak of splitting it. The wider Greek sense survives in sternocleidomastoid, a neck muscle named for the three points it grips: breastbone, collarbone, and the bump behind the ear.

How it travelled

Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → English

First recorded

17th century