‖ hallux Anat.
(ˈhæləks)
Pl. halluces (ˈhæl(j)ʊsiːz).
[mod.L., corrupted from allex (allic-) the great toe (Isidore Gloss.), found once in Plautus in phr. allex. viri a ‘thumb of a man’, a thumbling.]
The innermost of the digits (normally five in number) of the hind foot of an air-breathing vertebrate; the great toe; in birds (when present) usually either the inner or the hind toe. (Corresponding to the pollex or thumb of the fore limb.)
| 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 161 The Toes..are distinguished..by their numerical names..The first is also called the Great Toe, (hallux). 1839 W. Jardine Brit. Birds II. 53 All [Insessores] have the hallux, or hind toe. 1872 Nicholson Palæont. 388 In the Emeu, Cassowary,..the hallux is..absent. 1875 tr. Schmidt's Desc. & Darw. 280 Prehensile hind feet with their opposable hallux. |