Semantics

Красќвый пћяс перехвђтывал её тђлию. A pretty belt encircled her waist.
This entry is concerned with the use of the word тђлия to refer to the part of the human torso between the ribs and the hip as an element of someone's figure. It does not refer to animals. This word is used to describe the shape of someone's body and also certain gestures involving someone's waist. It is not used to describe sensations, e.g. pain. In the literature of the 19th century, тђлия was still used in the sense "the upper portion of the torso," e.g. длќнная тђлия, said of a long-waisted person, стрћйная тђлия "a shapely figure," etc. (Compare the word стђн, which also has this usage.) For the difference between the word тђлия and its synonym пћяс, see Lexical Relationships: Synonyms.

The word тђлия is also used to refer to the corresponding part of clothing, a meaning not described in this dictionary.