Malleolus

//maˈliː.əl.əs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The bony prominence with a shape likened to a hammerhead, especially each of those at the distal end of the fibula or tibia, on either side of the ankle joint.

Example

More examples

"The lateral malleolus is the bone on the outside of the ankle joint."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin malleolus (“a small hammer or mallet”); itself from malleus (“a hammer, mallet”) + -olus (“diminutive suffix”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.