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Etymology edit

From Ancient Greek ἀγκύλωσις (ankúlōsis, a stiffening of the joints), from ἀγκυλόειν (ankulóein, to crook, bend), from ἀγκύλος (ankúlos, bent, crooked). By surface analysis, ankyl- +‎ -osis.

Noun edit

ankylosis (countable and uncountable, plural ankyloses)

  1. (anatomy) The growing together of bones to form a single unit.
  2. (medicine) The stiffening of a joint as the result of such abnormal fusion.
  3. (figuratively) An onset of stiffness or inflexibility.
    • 1914, Brand Whitlock, Forty Years of It[1], introduction:
      Yet in using the word democracy, one must plead for a distinction, or, better, a reversion, indicated by the curious anchylosis that, at a certain point in their maturity, usually sets in upon words newly put in use to express some august and large spiritual reality.

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