derivatives in vulgar Latin or in the Romance languages. The fact that it is used once by Juvenal (who avoided obscene vocabulary) shows that it was less offensive than . In later medical Latin, such as the 5th century Cassius Felix, it could be used as an alternative for . (not to be confused with "an old woman") corresponds to the English derivative "anus". The word is metaphorical and originally meant "ring". Its anatomical sense drove out its other meanings, and for this reason the diminutive became the usual Latin name for a ring or circle. The word is common in medical writings. In his book on agriculture, Columella describes how to treat a cow with stomach-ache: ("If any pain remains, trim your nails, insert your oiled hand through its anus and extract the dung.") It does not seem to have been regarded as an obscenity, and in his letter on different Latin obscene words, Cicero says: ("You call an 'anus' by a name not its own; why not use its own name? If it is something obscene, it should not be referred to even by another name; if it is not, it should be called by its own name.") In the Latin Bible, the word is used for "haemorrhoids": ("You shall make five golden haemorrhoids.") In Phaedrus's fable of the dogs who are sent on an embassy to Jupiter, it is used as a synonym of , which occurs later in the same poem: ("Fearing lest something similar might happen again,they fill the dogs' anus with perfume, and a lot of it.") An example of the usage of "ring" as a metaphor in a modern Romance language can be found in Brazilian Portuguese slang, in which the word anel can have the same double meaning, especially in the expression o anel de couro (the leather ring). "Ring" is also British slang for "anus". Buttocks A more seemly Latin word for the backside was (singular ) "buttocks"; this word was generally more decent than , and older, as well: it has several Indo-European cognates. It can be used for the rump of animals as well as humans, and even birds. The word is usually plural but sometimes singular. In the same satire quoted above Juvenal (2.20–21) speaks scathingly of philosophers who have double standards, preaching about virtue but practising vice: ("They speak of virtuebut waggle their rump. 'Am I going