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Added 9 October 2026

ankle

/ˈæŋ.kəl/ noun

In Latin: tālus Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about ankle at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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 (“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 enkel, enklaauw, 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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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