tibia

Where does the word "tibia" come from? It comes from Latin tibia, and was adopted directly into English (1706).

Tibia’s story begins in Latin: tibia meant “the shin bone, or a flute.” The shin bone, also the name for an ancient flute once made from animal shin bones. It reached English by 1706 as tibia. Latin 'flute', since early flutes were made from shinbones. Today, tibia means the larger of the two bones in the lower leg, the shin bone.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient tibia "the shin bone, or a flute", the shin bone, also the name for an ancient flute once made from animal shin bones.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1706 tibia "the larger of the two shin bones", Latin 'flute', since early flutes were made from shinbones.