bunion
(ˈbʌnjən)
Also 8 bunnian, 9 bunnion, bunyan, bunyon.
[Of obscure etymology; prob. connected with bunny1. Prof. Skeat regards it as a. It. bugnone ‘a push, a bile, a blane, a botch’ (Florio 1598), f. bugno = OF. bugne (? whence bunny); this suits the form, but the word was until recently so rare in literary use that derivation from Italian seems very unlikely.]
An inflamed swelling on the foot, esp. of the bursa mucosa at the inside of the ball of the great toe; see quot. 1878.
| a 1718 Rowe Tonson & Congr., Warm my bunnians [footnote, Jacob's name for his corns] at your fire. 1821 Galt Ayrsh. Legat. 198 (Jam.) Miss Mally had an orthodox corn, or bunyan. 1863 C. M. Smith Deadlock 248 His bunions never mar his quiet pilgrimage. 1878 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 176 When from excessive pressure a bursa forms over one of the tarsal or metatarsal articulations, a bunion is said to be present. |