fetlock
noun
Forms fetlocks fetterlock fewterlock
- noun A joint of the horse's leg below the knee or hock and above the hoof.
- noun The tuft of hair that grows at this joint.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English fitlokes, feetlakkes pl, taken to be foot + lock (“tuft of hair”) but actually a misdivision of Old English -oc. Cognate with Middle Low German fitlok, fitlock (“fetlock”), Dutch vitlok, vittelokke, vitslok, German Fissloch, Fisloch, Fislach (“fetlock; pastern”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The cushionlike projection, bearing a tuft of long hair, on the back side of the leg above the hoof of the horse and similar animals.
Etymology [OE. fetlak, fitlock, cf. Icel. fet pace, step, fit webbed foot of water birds, akin to E. foot. sq. root 77. See Foot.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fetlock”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details