Rumen

//ˈɹu.mən// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The first compartment of the stomach of a cow or other ruminants.

    "In the newborn ruminant the abomasum is about as large as the rumen and remains relatively large as long as only milk is consumed (Brugnone, 1809). As the young ruminant consumes forages, the reticulum, and particularly the rumen, develop rapidly."

  2. 2
    the first compartment of the stomach of a ruminant; here food is collected and returned to the mouth as cud for chewing wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
paunchabdomenabomasumbay windowbeerbellybelly

Example

More examples

"When food enters a bovine’s stomach, it undergoes a process called enteric fermentation: microbes and bacteria partially break down the food particles, which then ferment in the part of the stomach called the rumen."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rūmen.

More for "rumen"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.