bunion

Meanings

1. A bump or bulge on the first joint of the big toe caused by the swelling of a sac of fluid under the skin.
2. Hallux valgus, deviation of the big toe from its normal position towards the other toes, the prime cause for the swelling of its first joint.

Etymology

From alteration of earlier bunny (“lump, swelling”), from Middle English bony, boni (“bunion, swelling”), perhaps Italian bubbone (augmented form of bugno (“beehive”)), or more likely from Lombard bugnon (“bunyon”), all three from Old French bugne, buigne, bune (“bump, knob, swelling”), from Old Norse bunga (“an elevation, bulge”) or Frankish *bungjō (“a swelling, lump, bump”), both from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô (“lump, clump, heap, crowd”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick, dense, fat”). Cognate with Dutch bonk (“lump, clump”), German Bunge (“swelling, tuber”).