Etymology

knuckle

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Today it means: Any of the joints between the bones of the fingers. Full definition →

Middle English knokel ← Old English cnucel ← Proto-West Germanic *knukil
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*knukilaz“knuckle, knot, bump”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*knukil
  3. Old English · inherited fromcnucel“the juncture of two bones; knuckle; joint”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromknokel“finger joint”
  5. English todayknuckle

From Middle English knokel (“finger joint”), from Old English cnucel (“the juncture of two bones; knuckle; joint”), from Proto-West Germanic *knukil, from Proto-Germanic *knukilaz (“knuckle, knot, bump”), as *knukô (“bone, joint”) + *-ilaz (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Dutch knokkel (“knuckle”), Low German Knökel (“knuckle”), German Knöchel (“ankle, knuckle”), Old Norse knykill. More at knock.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.