rodilla

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂-

Proto-Indo-European *Hróth₂eh₂der.

Proto-Italic *rotā

Latin rota

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -lus

Latin -ellus

Late Latin rotella

Old Spanish rodiella

Spanish rodilla

Inherited from Old Spanish rodiella, from Late Latin rotella, diminutive of Latin rota (“wheel”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iʝa

 

• IPA^(key): /roˈdiʝa/ [roˈð̞i.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /roˈdiʝa/ [roˈð̞i.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /roˈdiʎa/ [roˈð̞i.ʎa] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /roˈdiʃa/ [roˈð̞i.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /roˈdiʒa/ [roˈð̞i.ʒa] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /roˈdia/ [roˈð̞i.a] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Audio:

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -iʝa

• Rhymes: -iʝa (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎa (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒa (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -ia (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: ro‧di‧lla

Noun

rodilla f (plural rodillas)

1. knee (joint or region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank)

   Synonym: (formal) hinojo

Derived terms

• a media rodilla
• arrodillar
• de rodillas
• rodilla en tierra

Related terms

• corva, jarrete (hock of the knee)
• rodillo
• rueda

Descendants

• → Asturian: rodiya, rodía
• → Portuguese: rodilha

Further reading

• “rodilla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025