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Origin and history of ankle

ankle(n.)

"joint which connects the foot with the leg," 14c. ancle, ankle, from Old English ancleow "ankle," ultimately from PIE root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (see angle (n.)). The Middle English and modern form of the word seems to be from or influenced by Old Norse ökkla or Old Frisian ankel, which are immediately from the Proto-Germanic form of the root, *ankjōn- (source also of Middle High German anke "joint," German Enke "ankle").

The second element in the Old English, Old Norse and Old Frisian forms of the word perhaps is a folk-etymology suggestion of claw (compare Dutch anklaauw), or it may be from influence of cneow "knee," or it may be the diminutive suffix -el. Middle English writers distinguished the inner ankle projection (hel of the ancle) from the outer (utter or utward ancle), and the word sometimes was applied to the wrist (ankle of þe hand).

also from 14c.

Entries linking to ankle

angle(n.)

"space or difference in direction between intersecting lines," late 14c., from Old French angle "an angle, a corner" (12c.) and directly from Latin angulus "an angle, a corner," a diminutive form from PIE root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (source also of Greek ankylos "bent, crooked," Latin ang(u)ere "to compress in a bend, fold, strangle;" Old Church Slavonic aglu "corner;" Lithuanian anka "loop;" Sanskrit ankah "hook, bent," angam "limb;" Old English ancleo "ankle;" Old High German ango "hook").

The figurative sense "point or direction from which one approaches something" is from 1872. Angle-bracket is attested by 1781 in carpentry; 1956 in typography.

anklet(n.)

"ornamental ring for an ankle," 1810, from ankle, with diminutive suffix -let, after bracelet, etc.

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Trends of ankle

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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spurn

High German spurnan, Old Frisian spurna, Old Norse sporna "to kick, drive away with the feet"), from PIE root *spere- "ankle..." (source also of Middle Dutch spoor "track of an animal," Greek sphyron "ankle," Latin spernere "to reject, spurn," Sanskrit...

astragalus

include the milkvetch, loco-weed and goat's thorn; 1560s in anatomy in reference to a type of bone, usually in or near the ankle...All senses are from Greek astragalos "neck vertebra; ankle bone; knuckle-bones (used as dice)," which generally is considered...

shank

"leg of a human or animal," especially "the part of the leg from the knewe to the ankle," Old English sceanca "leg, shank..., shinbone," specifically, the part of the leg from the knee to the ankle, from Proto-Germanic *skunkia- (source also of...

hock

"joint in the hind leg of a horse or other quadruped," corresponding to the ankle-joint in man, mid-15c., earlier hockshin...

tassel

tassellus, said to be from Latin taxillus "small die or cube," a diminutive of talus "knucklebone (used as a die in gaming), ankle...

shackle

kind of fetter, especially for the wrist or ankle of a prisoner, Middle English shakel, from Old English sceacel, sceacul...

varus

foot deformity in which the feet are extroverted, so that the inner ankle rests on the ground, while the sole of the foot...

talus

"anklebone," 1690s, from Latin talus "ankle, anklebone, knucklebone" (plural tali), related to or a derivative of Latin taxillus "a small die, cube" (they originally were made from the knucklebones of animals), which is of obscure origin...."slope," 1640s, from French talus (16c.

leg

late 13c., from a Scandinavian source, probably Old Norse leggr "a leg, bone of the arm or leg," from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz (cognates Danish læg, Swedish läg "the calf of the leg"), a word with no certain ulterior connections. Perhaps from a PIE root meaning "to bend" [Buck]. Fo

claw

"sharp, hooked, horny end of the limb of a mammal, bird, reptile, etc.," Old English clawu, earlier clea, "claw, talon, iron hook," from Proto-Germanic *klawo (source also of Old Frisian klawe "claw, hoe," Middle Dutch klouwe, Dutch klauw, Old High German klawa, German Klaue "cla

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Dictionary entries near ankle

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