fibula

See also: fíbula and fibulă

English

Jewelled Germanic fibulae (sense 1) from the 5th century.

Location of the fibula (sense 2) in the skeletal structure of the leg.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fībula (“buckle, clasp, pin”). The bone is so named because the shape it makes with the tibia resembles a clasp, the fibula being the pin.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪb.jʊl.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪb.jəl.ə/
• Rhymes: -ɪbjʊlə

Noun

fibula (plural fibulae or (obsolete) fibulæ or fibulas)

1. An ancient kind of brooch used to hold clothing together, similar in function to the modern safety pin.
   • 1949, N. P. Toll, “Fibulae”, in Teresa G. Frisch, N. P. Toll, edited by M[ikhail] I[vanovich] Rostoftzeff, A. R. Bellinger, F. E. Brown, N. P. Toll, and C. B. Welles, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Part IV. The Bronze Objects: Fascicle 1. Pierced Bronzes, Enameled Bronzes, and Fibulae, number Final Report IV, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; London: Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press, →OCLC, Bow Fibulae, page 56:

     Most of the fibulae have a triangular molding above the notch, which probably contained wound wire. The crossbar is decorated either with a flat knob or with a Persian merlon.

2. (anatomy) The smaller of the two bones in the lower leg.

   Synonym: calf bone

Derived terms

• fibular
• fibulate
• fibulo-, fibul-
• tibiofibula

Related terms

• fibularis

Translations

ancient brooch

• Catalan: fíbula (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 胸針 / 胸针 (zh) (xiōngzhēn)

• Esperanto: fibolo
• French: fibule (fr) f
• Georgian: მშვილდსაკინძი (mšvildsaḳinʒi)
• German: Fibel (de) f
• Ido: fibulo (io)
• Japanese: フィブラ (fibura)
• Khiamniungan Naga: ūpāh
• Korean: 피불라 (pibulla)
• Portuguese: fíbula f
• Russian: фи́була (ru) f (fíbula)
• Spanish: fíbula (es) f
• Swedish: fibula (sv) c

calf bone — see calf bone

See also

• peroneal

References

• “fibula”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “fibula”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fībula. Doublet of the inherited fibbia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfi.bu.la/
• Rhymes: -ibula
• Hyphenation: fì‧bu‧la

Noun

fibula f (plural fibule)

1. (anatomy) fibula, calf bone

   Synonym: perone

Further reading

• fibula in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• bufali

Latin

Etymology

Syncopic form of *fīvibula, from fīvō (“to fix, fasten, thrust in”, archaic form of fīgō) +‎ -bula (instrumental nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈfiː.bu.la/, [ˈfiːbʊɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfi.bu.la/, [ˈfiːbulä]

Noun

fībula f (genitive fībulae); first declension

1. (literal) clasp, buckle, brooch, pin, latchet, brace
2. (transferred sense) connection, bond, fetter
3. (surgery)
   1. surgical instrument for drawing together the lips of a wound
   2. stitching needle drawn through the prepuce

Inflection

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	fībula	fībulae
genitive	fībulae	fībulārum
dative	fībulae	fībulīs
accusative	fībulam	fībulās
ablative	fībulā	fībulīs
vocative	fībula	fībulae

Derived terms

• confībula
• fībulātōrius
• fībulō
• suffībulum

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Romanian: hiolă (possibly)
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: fibbia
    • →? Venetan: fibia
• North Italian:
  • Gallo-Italic:
    • Ligurian: fübia
    • Lombard: fübia, figgia
    • Piedmontese: fübia, fimbria
  • Friulian: fiube
  • Ladin: fibla
  • Venetan: fiuba
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: fibla
• Vulgar Latin:
  • *fībella (see there for further descendants)
  • *fībulāria
    • Romanian: fiulare
• Borrowings:
  • → Catalan: fíbula
  • → English: fibula
  • → French: fibule
  • → Galician: fíbula
  • → Italian: fibula
  • → Portuguese: fíbula
  • → Romanian: fibulă
  • → Spanish: fíbula

Further reading

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 1564: “la cintura; la fibbia” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “*fibella”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 3: D–F, page 489

Further reading

• “fibula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fibula”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• fibula in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• fibula in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “fibula”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “fibula”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fiˈbula]

Noun

fibula f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of fibulă

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fibula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fîbula/
• Hyphenation: fi‧bu‧la

Noun

fȉbula f (Cyrillic spelling фи̏була)

1. (anatomy) fibula, calf bone

Declension

Declension of fibula

	singular	plural
nominative	fibula	fibule
genitive	fibule	fibula
dative	fibuli	fibulama
accusative	fibulu	fibule
vocative	fibulo	fibule
locative	fibuli	fibulama
instrumental	fibulom	fibulama