taken as combining form of L. costa a rib, in anatomical and physiological terms, mostly in sense ‘pertaining to, or connecting, the ribs and…,’ as in costo-abdominal, -central, -chondral [Gr. χόνδρος cartilage], pertaining to the ribs and their cartilages, -clavicular, -colic [COLON1], -coracoid, -pubic, -scapular, -sternal, -thoracic, -trachelian [Gr. τράχηλος neck], -transversal, -transverse, connecting the ribs and the transverse processes of the vertebræ, -vertebral, -xiphoid. Also costo-inferior, -superior (respiration), in which the chief movements are those of the inferior or superior ribs (cf. COSTAL 1); Costotome [Gr. -τομος cutting], an instrument for cutting through the ribs or costal cartilages in dissection.
1842. E. Wilson, Anat. Vade M., 111. The costo-clavicular ligament … connecting the sternal extremity of the clavicle with the cartilage of the first rib.
1836. Todd, Cycl. Anat., I. 359/2. [The axillary artery] is … protected by the costo-coracoid ligament. Ibid., IV. 335/2. The costo-inferior and abdominal types [of respiration] in boys.
1831. R. Knox, Cloquet’s Anat., 191. Middle Costo-Transverse Ligament.
1836. Todd, Cycl. Anat., I. 8/2. The costoxiphoid ligament.
