/ˈæŋ.kəl/
OriginFrom 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 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, 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.
- 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.
- ambitransitive, slangTo walk.
“Arvay’s tearful speech followed the usual pattern, and everybody said it was just fine. There had been nothing about the heathens of China, India and Africa wallowing around on the heavenly chairs, no”
“1951, Anthony Buckeridge, Jennings’ Little Hut, London: Collins, 1973, Chapter 15, p. 178,
Supposing we all ankled over to the huts […]”
“1966, P. G. Wodehouse, Plum Pie, London: Everyman, 2007, Chapter 6, p. 158,
He ankled round, accordingly, to her house and his ring at the bell was answered by Wilberforce, her butler […]”
- To cyclically angle the foot at the ankle while pedaling, to maximize the amount of work applied to the pedal during each revolution.
Formsankles(plural) · ancle(alternative, obsolete) · ankles(present, singular, third-person) · ankling(participle, present) · ankled(participle, past) · ankled(past)
Source: Wiktionary