proboscis
nounUK /pɹə(ʊ)ˈbɒs(k)ɪs/ · US /pɹoʊˈbɑs(k)ɪs/
Etymology From Latin proboscis, from Ancient Greek προβοσκίς (proboskís, “elephant's trunk”) literally "means for taking food," from προ- (pro-, “before”) + βόσκω (bóskō, “to nourish, feed”), from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷeh₃- from which also comes βοτάνη (botánē, “grass, fodder”).
1
Anatomy, Medicine, Sciences An elongated tube from the head or connected to the mouth, of an animal.
- Don Caldwell, editor-in-chief of the site Know Your Meme, namechecks Brr Brr Patapim, “a proboscis monkey that is also a tree”, as one who made it to YouTube.2025 June 25, Elle Hunt, “From Chimpanzini Bananini to Ballerina Cappuccina: how gen alpha went wild for Italian brain rot animals”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
2
Anatomy, Biology, Entomology, Malacology, Medicine, Natural sciences, Sciences The tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates like insects, worms and molluscs.
- Unlike the proboscides of Lower brachyceran lineages, which are continuous with the head capsule and tend to dangle (Matsuda 1965), the proboscides of most cyclorrhaphan species are suspended by a membranous region and divided into three functional parts: the basiproboscis (rostrum), medioproboscis (haustellum), and distiproboscis (labellum), each of which is defined by internal muscles but also shares muscles with the other regions (Graham-Smith 1930; Lall and Davies 1971).2012, Brian Wiegmann, The Evolutionary Biology of Flies, page 225:
- Derived terms
- probosciform, proboscislike, proboscis monkey, proboscis worm