tobillo

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish touiello, from Vulgar Latin *tūbellum, a diminutive of Latin tūber (“hump, bump, swelling, protuberance”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /toˈbiʝo/ [t̪oˈβ̞i.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): /toˈbiʝo/ [t̪oˈβ̞i.ʝo] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /toˈbiʎo/ [t̪oˈβ̞i.ʎo] (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /toˈbiʃo/ [t̪oˈβ̞i.ʃo] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /toˈbiʒo/ [t̪oˈβ̞i.ʒo] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -iʝo

• Rhymes: -iʝo (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎo (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃo (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒo (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Syllabification: to‧bi‧llo

Noun

tobillo m (plural tobillos)

1. ankle
   • 1980, “Chicas De Colegio”, performed by Mamá:

     Desde mi ventana / yo las veo pasear / sus pequeños cuerpos / sus tobillos de cristal

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• hasta el tobillo
• tobillera
• tobillero

Further reading

• “tobillo”, 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