Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- the projection of the leg of a horse behind the joint between the cannon bone and great pastern bone, bearing a tuft of hair.
- the tuft of hair itself.
- Also called fetlock joint. the joint at this point.
noun
- a projection behind and above a horse’s hoof: the part of the leg between the cannon bone and the pastern
- Also called: fetlock joint the joint at this part of the leg
- the tuft of hair growing from this part
early 14c., fetlak, from a Germanic source (cf. Dutch vetlock, Middle High German fizlach, German Fiszloch), perhaps related to the root of German fessel “pastern.”
The Middle English diminutive suffix -ok (from Old English -oc) was misread and the word taken in folk etymology as being a compound of feet and lock (of hair).