ankle

English

Alternative forms

• ancle (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English ankel, ancle, ankyl, from Old English *ancol (compare anclēow (“ankle”) > Modern English anclef, ancliff, ancley), from Proto-Germanic *ankalaz (“ankle or 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 (“thigh, shin”), from the Proto-Germanic *ankijǭ (“ankle or hip”).

Compare with Sanskritanga (“limb”), anguri finger. Compare with haunch and with Greek prefix ancylo- = joint, crooked, bent.

Pronunciation

• audio (US)

  (file)

• IPA: /ˈæŋ.kəl/
• Rhymes: -əl

Noun

ankle (plural ankles)

1. 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.

Derived terms

• ankle-biter
• ankle slapper
• show ankle

Translations

joint between foot and leg

• Albanian: noçkë (sq) f
• Arabic: كاحل (ar) (kāHil) m, كعب (ar) (kaʕb) m

  Egyptian Arabic: بز الرجل (bez el regl) m, انكل (ankel) m

• Armenian: կոճ (hy) (koč̣), ճան (hy) (č̣an)

  Old Armenian: կոճ (koč), պճեղն (pčełn)

• Asturian: todiellu (ast) m
• Bulgarian: глезен (bg) (glezen)
• Catalan: turmell (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎤᏣᏍᏆᎳᏛ (chr) (uṣaskwaladǝ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (informal) 脚腕子 (cmn) (jiǎowànzi), 腿腕子 (cmn) (tuǐwànzi), (technical) 踝 (cmn) (huái), 腳腕子 (cmn), 腳踝 (cmn), 脚踝 (cmn) (jiǎohuái)

  Min Nan: 跤目 (nan) (kha-ba̍k)

• Coptic: ⲓⲛⲓ (ʔini) f, ϣⲙⲟⲩ ⲛⲣⲁⲧ (ʔšmu ʔnrad, ʔšmu ʔnrat) m
• Czech: kotník (cs) m
• Danish: kno (da), ankel (da)
• Dutch: enkel (nl) m
• Esperanto: maleolo (eo)
• Ewe: afɔkɔe n
• Finnish: nilkka (fi)
• French: cheville (fr) f
• Galician: nocello (gl) m
• Georgian: კოჭი (ka) (koči)
• German: Knöchel (de) m, Fußknöchel (de) m, enkel (de)
• Greek: αστράγαλος (el) (astrágalos) m
• Hebrew: קרסול (he) (qarsol) m
• Hungarian: boka (hu)
• Icelandic: ökkli (is) m
• Ido: stifto (io)
• Irish: rúitín (ga) m, murnán (ga) m, caol na coise (ga) m, alt na coise (ga) m
• Italian: caviglia (it) f
• Japanese: 足首 (ja) (あしくび, ashikubi), 踝 (ja) (くるぶし, kurubushi)

• Jèrriais: g'vil'ye f
• Korean: 발목 (ko) (balmog, balmok)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: gozek (ku) f

• Latgalian: povuorška f
• Latin: talus (la) m
• Latvian: potīte (lv) f
• Macedonian: глужд (mk) (glužd) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ankel (no) m

  Nynorsk: ankel (nn) m, okle (nn) f and n

• Occitan: cavilha (oc) f
• Old English: ancle (ang), anclow (ang)
• Persian: قوزک پا (fa) (quzak), مچ پا (fa) (moch-é pâ)
• Polish: kostka (pl) f
• Portuguese: tornozelo (pt) m
• Romanian: gleznă (ro) f
• Russian: лодыжка (ru) (lodýžka) f, щиколотка (ru) (ščíkolotka) f
• Scottish Gaelic: adhbrann (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian: gležanj (sh) m
• Slovak: členok (sk) m
• Slovene: gleženj (sl) m
• Spanish: tobillo (es) m
• Swedish: ankel (sv), fotled (sv) c, vrist (sv) c
• Taos: c’òwowo’óna
• Vietnamese: mắt cá chân (vi)
• Volapük: futayoin (vo)
• Warlpiri: tari
• Welsh: migwrn (cy) m

Verb

ankle (third-person singular simple present ankles, present participle ankling, simple past and past participle ankled)

1. (US, slang) To walk.
   • 2009, Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice, Vintage 2010, p. 275:

     After a while he got up and ankled his way down the corridor and met Penny coming out of the toilet.

2. (cycling) To cyclically angle the foot at the ankle while pedaling, to maximize the amount of work applied to the pedal during each revolution.