ankle

Meanings

Noun

• 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

• From Middle English ankel, ancle, ankyll, from Old English ancol (compare anclēow > Modern English anclef, ancliff, ancley), from Proto-Germanic *ankulaz ("ankle, hip"); 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, from the Proto-Germanic *ankijǭ ("ankle”, “hip").
• Compare with Sanskrit अङ्ग ("limb"), अङ्गुरि, Latin angulus. Compare haunch and Greek prefix ἀγκυλο-. angulus, and angle.