Lewis & Short

perna, ae, f., = πέρνα. a haunch or ham together with the leg.

  1. I. Lit.
    1. A. Of men: is (i. e. his, militibus) pernas succidit, Enn. ap. Fest. pp. 304 and 305 (Ann. v. 279 Vahl.) (for which, in Liv. 22, 51: succisis feminibus poplitibusque).
    2. B. Of animals, esp. of swine, a thigh-bone, with the meat upon it to the knee-joint, a leg of pork, a ham or gammon of bacon: addito ungulam de pernā, Cato, R. R. 158; 162: frigida, Plaut. Pers. 1, 3, 25: praeter olus fumosae cum pede pernae, Hor. S. 2, 2, 117; Mart. 10, 48, 17: aprina, Apic. 8, 1: ossa ex acetabulis pernarum. Plin. 28, 11, 49, § 179; Stat. S. 4, 9, 34.
  2. II. Transf., of things of a similar shape.
    1. A. A sea-mussel: pernae concharum generis, Plin. 32, 11, 54, § 154.
    2. B. A part of the body of a tree sticking to its suckers when pulled off: stolones cum pernā suā avelluntur, Plin. 17, 10, 13, § 67.