overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

proboscis.

An elongated tube from the head or connected to the mouth, of an animal.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/pɹə(ʊ)ˈbɒs(k)ɪs/Received-Pronunciation/pɹoʊˈbɑs(k)ɪs/General-American, dialectal/pɹoʊˈbɒs(k)ɪs/Canada, dialectal/pɹəʉˈbɔs(k)ɪs/Australia
  1. An elongated tube from the head or connected to the mouth, of an animal.

  2. An elongated tube from the head or connected to the mouth, of an animal. The tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates like insects, worms and molluscs.

  3. An elongated tube from the head or connected to the mouth, of an animal. The trunk of an elephant.

  4. A large or lengthy human nose.

    humorous · informal · mildly
Where this word comes from

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”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

proboscis has 9 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

proboscis studioproboscis workshello, proboscis

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.