What is the difference between those two? Are they synonyms?

In English:

Abdomen - The part of the body of a vertebrate containing the digestive organs; the belly. In humans and other mammals, it is bounded by the diaphragm and the pelvis.

Belly - The front part of the human trunk below the ribs, containing the stomach and bowels.

Stomach - The internal organ in which the major part of the digestion of food occurs, being (in humans and many mammals) a pear-shaped enlargement of the alimentary canal linking the esophagus to the small intestine.

What words should I use for each of them? Thank you.


  1. And which one is more natural in daily usage to be used in sentences such as " I have stomach ache" or "My abs is six-pack"?

  2. I asked this question because in Bahasa Indonesia (my language), there is only one word to describe all of them, that is "Perut". So, six pack abs translates to "Perut six pack" as stomach ache to "Sakit perut". Just like Japanese, there's no word that describe "Jaw", chin and jaw in Japanese translates to the same word あご.

  • 1
    The body of arthropods (among them all insects) is separted in »Kopf« (head), »Thorax« (thorax) and »Abdomen« (abdomen), but they do not have a »Bauch« (belly) Aug 19 '18 at 20:02
  • @HubertSchölnast , how do I say "I have six-packed abs" in German then?
    – Logos
    Aug 20 '18 at 6:29
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    @Logos: This is »Ich habe einen Waschbrettbauch.« A Waschbrett (washboard) is a hard and rippled board. Aug 20 '18 at 11:36
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    There also exists a parody on this term, which you can sometimes see as self-ironic printing on T-Shirts: It shows "Waschbrettbauch" with "brett" being crossed out and replaced by "bär", making it Waschbärbauch (= racoon belly) Aug 21 '18 at 10:39
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    People tend to close translation requests as off topic here. Your edit made it clear that it is more the word usage in a given context you are interested in, and that the English counterparts are for illustration only and not really your concern.
    – Takkat
    Aug 22 '18 at 8:41

In German, the word "Abdomen" is a medical term, whereas "Bauch" is widely used in the standard langague. "Abdomen" often refers specifically to the lower part of the "Bauch". The entry for "Abdomen" on Duden.de lists "(Medizin) Bauch, Unterleib" as meanings.

According to the definition you provided, "(der) Magen" is the German equivalent for "stomach".


"I have stomach ache" is "Ich habe Bauchweh." or "Ich habe Bauchschmerzen."

"My abs is six-pack" is "Ich habe einen Waschbrettbauch." or "Ich habe ein Sixpack."


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