Bunion definition
A painful, inflamed swelling of the bursa at the first joint of the big toe, characterized by enlargement of the joint and lateral displacement of the toe.
noun
An inflammation and swelling of the bursa at the base of the big toe, with a thickening of the skin.
noun
A painful, inflamed swelling of the bursa at the first joint of the big toe, characterized by enlargement of the joint and lateral displacement of the toe.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
bunion
Plural:
bunionsOrigin of bunion
- Probably alteration of obsolete bunny swelling from Middle English bony perhaps from Old French bugne bun1
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From alteration of earlier bunny (“lump, swelling”), from Middle English bony, boni (“bunion, swelling”); or perhaps from Italian bugnone (“a knob, boil, blain”), an augmented form of Italian bugno (“beehive”); both Middle English and Italian words from Old French bugne, buigne, bune (“bump, knob, swelling”), from Old Norse bunga (“an elevation, bulge”) or from Old Frankish *bungjo (“a swelling, lump, bump”), both Old Norse and Old Frankish 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”).
From Wiktionary