subcostal
adjective, noun
subcostal is an adjective meaning “Below (deep to) a rib or the ribs” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-U-B-C-O-S-T-A-L, and it appears about once in every 19 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does subcostal mean?
adjective
- 1
Below (deep to) a rib or the ribs.
- 2
Pertaining to the subcosta and/or the area of the wing next to it.
noun
- 1
A subcostal muscle.
- 2
One of the principal nervures of the wings of an insect, situated next beneath or behind the costal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of subcostal
- subcostals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is subcostal?
Subcostal appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 131,834th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Subcostal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense below a rib or the ribs:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | subcostal |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does subcostal come from?
From sub- + costal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).