ankle
Meanings
Plural: ankles
Noun
- a gliding joint between the distal ends of the tibia and fibula and the proximal end of the talus
- The skeletal joint which connects the foot with the leg; the uppermost portion of the foot and lowermost portion of the leg, which contain this skeletal joint.
Verb
- To walk.
- To cyclically angle the foot at the ankle while pedaling, to maximize the amount of work applied to the pedal during each revolution.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English ankel, ancle, ankyll, from Old English ancol (compare anclēow (“ankle”) > Modern English anclef, ancliff, ancley), from Proto-West Germanic *ankul, from Proto-Germanic *ankulaz (“ankle”); akin to Icelandic ökkla, ökli, Danish and Swedish ankel, Dutch enklaauw, enkel, German Enkel, Old Norse akka, Old Frisian anckel, and perhaps Old High German encha, ancha (“thigh, shin”), from the Proto-Germanic *ankijǭ (“ankle, joint”).
Compare with Sanskrit अङ्ग (aṅga, “limb”), अङ्गुरि (aṅguri, “finger”), Latin angulus. Compare haunch and Greek prefix ἀγκυλο- (ankulo-, “joint, crooked, bent”). Doublet of angulus and angle.
Synonyms
ankle joint, articulatio talocruralis, mortise joint
Scrabble Score: 9
ankle is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordankle is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
ankle is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary