rectum

English

Diagram of human rectum

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin rectum, clipping of Latin rectum intestinum (literally “the straight intestine”), rectum, neuter of rectus (“straight”). See right.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛktəm/, /ˈɹɛkˌtʌm/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛktəm

Noun

rectum (plural recta or rectums)

1. (anatomy) The terminal part of the large intestine through which feces pass after exiting the colon, but before leaving the body through the anus or cloaca.
   • 2012 September 26, Jacque Wilson, “Experts: Alcohol enemas ‘extremely dangerous’”, in CNN‎^[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 13 August 2025:

     Using an alcohol enema involves placing a small tube into someone’s rectum and pouring alcohol into the colon. Because the alcohol is absorbed directly into the bloodstream, the recipient gets drunk faster.

Derived terms

• anorectum
• colorectum
• megarectum
• mesorectum
• neorectum
• per rectum
• rectal
• vas rectum

Translations

terminal part of the large intestine

• Afrikaans: rektum (af)
• Arabic: مُسْتَقِيم m (mustaqīm)

  Egyptian Arabic: مستقيم m (mustaqim)

• Armenian: ուղիղ աղիք (uġiġ aġikʻ), վերջնաղիք (hy) (verǰnaġikʻ)
• Bulgarian: право черво n (pravo červo), ректум m (rektum)
• Catalan: recte (ca) m
• Cherokee: (his/her/its) ᎤᎦᏎᏂ (ugaseni)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 直腸 / 直肠 (zh) (zhícháng)

• Czech: konečník (cs) m
• Danish: endetarm (da) c
• Dutch: endeldarm (nl) m
• Estonian: pärasool
• Finnish: peräsuoli (fi)
• French: rectum (fr) m
• Frisian:

  Saterland Frisian: Paktierm m

  West Frisian: einterm c

• Galician: recto (gl) m, cenzo m, curso (gl) m
• Georgian: სწორი ნაწლავი (sc̣ori nac̣lavi)
• German: Rektum (de) n, Mastdarm (de) m, Enddarm (de) m
• Greek: ορθό (el) n (orthó)

  Ancient Greek: πρωκτός m (prōktós)

• Hebrew: כרכשת (he) f (kharkéshet)
• Hindi: मलाशय (hi) m (malāśay)
• Hungarian: végbél (hu)
• Indonesian: rektum
• Ingrian: oikiasooli
• Irish: athán m, driseachán m, reicteam m
• Italian: retto (it) m
• Japanese: 直腸 (ja) (ちょくちょう, chokuchō)
• Korean: 직장 (ko) (jikjang)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: tortorîk (ku) f

• Latin: ānus (la) m, extālis m
• Macedonian: ректум m (rektum), чмарно црево m (čmarno crevo)
• Malayalam: മലാശയം (malāśayaṁ)
• Maltese: rektum m, il-musrana dritta f
• Māori: tōngātiko
• Navajo: ajilchiiʼ
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: endetarm m

  Nynorsk: endetarm m

• Old English: earsþȳrel n
• Polish: odbytnica (pl) f
• Portuguese: reto (pt) m
• Quechua: uquti
• Russian: пряма́я кишка́ (ru) f (prjamája kišká), ре́ктум m (rɛ́ktum)
• Sami:

  Lule Sami: luogge

• Sanskrit: गुद (sa) n (guda), पायु (sa) m (pāyu), भसद् (sa) f (bhasad), लुब्धक (sa) m (lubdhaka), सीध्र (sa) n (sīdhra)
• Scottish Gaelic: tòn f, màs m
• Slovak: konečník (sk) m
• Spanish: recto (es) m, recto intestinal m, recto anal m, intestino rectal m, cavidad anal m
• Swedish: ändtarm (sv) c, rektum (sv) n, (vulgar) pastejkök n
• Tagalog: tumbong
• Turkish: rektum (tr)
• Ukrainian: пряма́ кишка́ f (prjamá kyšká)
• Vietnamese: ruột thẳng, trực tràng (vi)
• Welsh: rectwm m, rhefr m

See also

• latus rectum

See also

• nomen rectum (probably etymologically unrelated)

Further reading

• rectum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “rectum”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “rectum”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “rectum”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin rectum (intestīnum) (“straight intestine”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɛk.tɔm/

• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

  (file)

Noun

rectum m (plural rectums)

1. (anatomy) rectum

Further reading

• “rectum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈreːk.tũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈrɛk.tum]

Noun

rēctum n (genitive rēctī); second declension

1. good, uprightness, rectitude, virtue

   Synonyms: bonum, virtūs

   Antonyms: vitium, culpa, malum, iniūria, noxa, crīmen, peccātum, dēlīctum, error

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	rēctum	rēcta
genitive	rēctī	rēctōrum
dative	rēctō	rēctīs
accusative	rēctum	rēcta
ablative	rēctō	rēctīs
vocative	rēctum	rēcta

Verb

rēctum

1. accusative supine of regō

Participle

rēctum

1. inflection of rēctus:
   1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
   2. accusative masculine singular

References

• “rectum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "rectum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• rectum in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2026), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
• “rectum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) in a straight line: recta (regione, via); in directum
    
  • (ambiguous) you were right in...; you did right to..: recte, bene fecisti quod...
    
  • (ambiguous) a good conscience: conscientia recta, recte facti (factorum), virtutis, bene actae vitae, rectae voluntatis
    
  • (ambiguous) to congratulate oneself on one's clear conscience: conscientia recte factorum erigi
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: et recte (iure, merito)
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: et recte (iure) quidem
    
  • (ambiguous) quite rightly: recte, iure id quidem