Ankylosis
/ˌæŋ.kɪˈloʊ.sɪs/noun
Abnormal stiffening and immobility of a joint due to fusion or disease.
Did you know?It comes from Greek medical vocabulary built on ankylos, meaning bent or crooked, and the same root also gave us the idea of something being ‘crooked’ rather than the spooky meaning people often imagine.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ank-
“to bend, curve, or make crooked”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ankylos (ἀγκύλος)
“crooked, curved, or bent”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ankylōsis (ἀγκύλωσις)
“a bending, crooking, or stiffening of a joint”
Late Latin
Latin
anchylosis
“stiffening or fusion of a joint”
16th–17th Century
English
ankylosis
“pathological stiffening of a joint”
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