fibula
Americannoun
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fibulae,
plural
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fibulas
plural
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Anatomy. the outer and thinner of the two bones of the human leg, extending from the knee to the ankle.
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Zoology. a corresponding bone, often rudimentary or ankylosed with the tibia, of the leg or hind limb of an animal.
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a clasp or brooch, often ornamented, used by the ancient Greeks and Romans.
noun
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the outer and thinner of the two bones between the knee and ankle of the human leg Compare tibia
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the corresponding bone in other vertebrates
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a metal brooch resembling a safety pin, often highly decorated, common in Europe after 1300 bc
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fibulae
plural
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The smaller of the two bones of the lower leg or lower portion of the hind leg.
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See more at skeleton
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fibula
1665–75; < New Latin; Latin fībula bolt, pin, clasp, probably < *fīvibula, equivalent to fīv ( ere ), early form of fīgere to fasten, fix + -i- -i- + -bula suffix denoting instrument; the bone so called from its resemblance to the tongue of a clasp
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Vocabulary lists containing fibula
Human Anatomy and Physiology - High School
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Human Anatomy and Physiology - Middle School
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Example Sentences
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ElAttrache performed surgery on McGregor in July 2021, inserting a rod, plates and screws into his left leg after the fighter broke his tibia and fibula during a bout against Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Isak suffered a severe fractured ankle and fibula in December and, by the latter stages of the season, Liverpool were unwilling to risk him whenever he picked up minor concerns.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
A statement from the Royal Spanish Football Federation said that "following tests carried out by the medical services" Bonmati was "diagnosed with a fracture in her left fibula".
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
When Loyola High defensive lineman Andrew Hilton broke his fibula and suffered ligament damage to his ankle during the opening week of football practice last August, things looked bleak.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2025
The fibula of Booth’s lower left leg, a thin bone that is not intended to bear weight, snaps just above his ankle.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
His meticulously assembled forest of skulls, femurs, tibiae, and fibulae isn’t sacrilege; it’s a memorial.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026
He was born with unformed fibulae, and his legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old.
From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2017
Born without fibulae, the now 39-year-old’s lower legs were amputated when she was very young.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2015
Known as the “Blade Runner,” Pistorius is a double amputee who wears curved carbon fiber blades where his fibulae ought to be.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2012
Once invented, the bilateral spring became almost universal, and its introduction serves to divide the whole mass of ancient fibulae into an older and a younger group.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various
Born without fibulas, he has both legs amputated below the knees before turning one year old.
From Reuters ● Mar. 31, 2023
Photograph: Michael Buholzer/Reuters History of a champion athlete turned murderer 1986 Oscar Pistorius is born in Sandton, South Africa, with no fibulas.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 12, 2016
Pistorius was born without fibulas, one of the two long bones in the lower leg.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 24, 2012
Pistorius was born without fibulas, and had both legs amputated just below the knee when he was only 11 months old.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2011
There was a woman living in Bavaria, under the observation of Buhl, who had congenital absence of both femurs and both fibulas.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
