tibia

The inner and usually the larger of the two bones of the leg or hind limb below the knee, the shinbone.

Noun

  1. The inner and usually the larger of the two bones of the leg or hind limb below the knee, the shinbone.
    • Her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) are torn and Vonn has a lateral fracture of the tibial plateau, the upper end of the tibia or shin bone. - 2013 February 6, Jen Christiensen,...
  2. The second segment from the end of an insect's leg, between the femur and tarsus.
  3. The third segment from the end of an arachnid's leg, between the patella and metatarsus.
  4. A musical instrument of the flute kind, originally made of the leg bone of an animal.
    • The musician on the left is playing the zampogna, a bagpipe with two chanters and two drones. The zampogna is thought to be the bag-provided descendant of the ancient mouth-blown divergent pipes of the Romans, known as...

    Coordinate Terms: aulos

Origin

Borrowed from Latin tībia (“shin bone, leg”).

Forms

tibias tibiae

Synonyms

bone flute shin shinbone shin bone

Derived

basitibia distitibia foretibia mesotibia metatibia midtibia tibial tibia valga tibia vara tibiiform