ankylosis
/ˌæn.kɪˈloʊ.sɪs/noun
ankylosis is a noun meaning “The growing together of bones to form a single unit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled A-N-K-Y-L-O-S-I-S and has 4 syllables, and it appears about once in every 47 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of ankylosis is ankyloses.
What does ankylosis mean?
noun
- 1
The growing together of bones to form a single unit.
- 2
The stiffening of a joint as the result of such abnormal fusion.
- 3
An onset of stiffness or inflexibility.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce ankylosis?
- US /ˌæn.kɪˈloʊ.sɪs/
Ankylosis has 4 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Neøn-ankylosis.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ankylosis
- ankyloses plural
- anchylosis
- ancylosis
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is ankylosis?
Ankylosis appears about once in every 47 million words in written English, the 211,986th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Ankylosis in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the growing together of bones:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ankylose |
| German | Ankylose |
| Portuguese | anquilose, ancilose |
| Spanish | anquilosis |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ankylosis come from?
From Ancient Greek ἀγκύλωσις (ankúlōsis, “a stiffening of the joints”), from ἀγκυλόω (ankulóō, “to crook, bend”), from ἀγκύλος (ankúlos, “bent, crooked”). By surface analysis, ankyl- + -osis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).