fibula
/ˈfɪbjʊlə
/noun (plural fibulae /ˈfɪbjʊliː/ or fibulas)
1 Anatomy The outer and usually smaller of the two bones between the knee and the ankle (or the equivalent joints in other terrestrial vertebrates), parallel with the tibia.The lower end of the femur articulates at the knee joint with the tibia (shin bone); the fibula lies beside the tibia on the outer side of the lower leg....
- Common sites are the tibia, fibula, metatarsals, lumbar spine (pars interarticularis), and the hip (proximal femur).
- Chris, son of former Clarets manager and striker Frank, suffered a broken fibula, tibia and cruciate and ankle ligament damage.
2 Archaeology A brooch or clasp.It can be seen in the soldiers surrounding Theodosius on his missorium, and in the shield and spear held by Stilicho, the sword at his side and the great military fibula on his shoulder, all portrayed in detail on his diptych....
- As Sarah Pomeroy has noted, Spartan women always had a weapon to hand since, when they wore clothes, they favoured an old-fashioned heavy peplos which needed to be fastened at the shoulders with sharp fibulae.
- David is shown as a young, beardless figure with short, dark hair, clad in a purple chlamys, fastened at the shoulder (though no fibula is represented), beneath which a white and golden yellow garment can be seen.
Derivatives
fibular
- Stress fractures in our study, except for one involving the lumbar spine, were located in the tibial, fibular, metatarsal, and navicular bones.
- The fibular collateral ligament is a strong round cord, about 5 cm long, attached proximally to a tubercle on the lateral epicondyle of the femur, just proximal and posterior to a groove from which the popliteus muscle arises.
- The distal end of the fibula, as in all carnivores, has a lateral fibular process separating the tendon of fibularis (= peroneus) longus from that of fibularis brevis.
Origin
Late 16th century: from Latin, 'brooch', perhaps related to figere 'to fix'. The bone is so named because the shape it makes with the tibia resembles a clasp, the fibula being the pin.