Knuckle

For other uses, see Knuckle (disambiguation).
Knuckle
The major knuckles of the hand (encircled in red)
Anatomical terminology

The knuckles are the joints of the fingers. The word is cognate to similar words in other Germanic languages, such as the Dutch "knokkel" (knuckle) or German "Knöchel" (ankle), i.e., Knöchlein, the diminutive of the German word for bone (Knochen). Anatomically, it is said that the knuckles consist of the metacarpophalangeal[1] (MCP) and interphalangeal (IP) joints of the finger. The knuckles at the base of the fingers may be referred to as the 1st[1] or major knuckles while the knuckles at the midfinger are known as the 2nd[2] and 3rd, or minor, knuckles. However, the ordinal terms are used inconsistently and may refer to any of the knuckles.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b Utah Mountain Biking; Thumb Sprain; First as metacarpo.
  2. ^ Second knuckle as thumb's interphalangeal, "anchor knuckle" as metacarpophalangeal
  3. ^ First knuckle as thumb's interphalangeal
  4. ^ "First knuckle as distal interphalangeal". Archived from the original on 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2009-12-20.