Abdominal vs Belly - What's the difference?

abdominal | belly |

As nouns the difference between abdominal and belly

is that abdominal is (zoology|obsolete) a fish of the order abdominales while belly is the abdomen.

As an adjective abdominal

is of or pertaining to the abdomen; ventral .

As a verb belly is

to position one's belly.




(en adjective)
  • Of or pertaining to the abdomen; ventral.
  • abdominal muscles
    abdominal cavity
  • (ichthyology) Having the ventral fins under the abdomen and behind the pectoral fins.
  • (ichthyology) Ventral, in describing a fin.
  • (zoology, obsolete) Belonging to the order Abdominales of fish.
  • Synonyms

    * (of or pertaining to the abdomen) ventral

    Derived terms

    * abdominal ring


    (en noun)
  • (zoology, obsolete) A fish of the order Abdominales.
  • Synonyms

    * (fish) Cypriniformes.






  • The abdomen.
  • (Dunglison)
  • The stomach, especially a fat one.
  • The womb.
  • * Bible, Jer. i. 5
  • Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.
  • The lower fuselage of an airplane.
  • * 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 454:
  • There was no heat, and we shivered in the belly of the plane.
  • The part of anything which resembles the human belly in protuberance or in cavity; the innermost part.
  • the belly of a flask, muscle, sail, or ship
  • * Bible, Jonah ii. 2
  • Out of the belly of hell cried I.
  • (architecture) The hollow part of a curved or bent timber, the convex part of which is the back.
  • Derived terms

    * beer belly * bellyache * belly button/belly-button * belly dance/belly-dance * belly dancer/belly-dancer * belly dancing * belly flop, bellyflop * bellyful * belly laugh/belly-laugh * bellyless * bellylike * belly of the beast * Delhi belly * fire in the belly * sawbelly * sharpbelly

    Usage notes

    * Formerly, all the splanchnic or visceral cavities were called bellies: the lower belly being the abdomen; the middle belly, the thorax; and the upper belly, the head.

    See also

    * have eyes bigger than one's belly * abdomen * bouk * stomach * tummy


  • To position one's belly.
  • To swell and become protuberant; to bulge.
  • * Dryden
  • The bellying canvas strutted with the gale.
  • To cause to swell out; to fill.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Your breath of full consent bellied his sails.

    Derived terms

    * belly up