English Explanatory Dictionary

whirl-bone

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The patella, rotula, or kneecap.
  2. The head of the femur.

Word forms

whirl-bone whirl-bones whirlbone whirl bone whirly-bone

Etymology

From Middle English whirlebon, whyrlebone, whorlbane (“hip or hip joint; the thighbone, femur; the rounded head of the femur; the kneecap, patella; a vertebra; ankle”), perhaps an alteration of Old English hweorfbān (“a joint, kneecap, vertebra”), equivalent to whirl + bone. Cognate with Scots whorlebone, whorle-bane (“hip bone, joint, vertebra”), German Wirbelbein (“vertebra”).

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