The lower leg is the bottom segment of the leg: the part below the knee.

The lower leg contains two long bones. The larger of these two bones is the tibia, the smaller one the fibula.

The tibia is familiarly known as the shinbone. “Tibia” is a Latin word meaning both shinbone and flute. It is thought that “tibia” refers to both the bone and the musical instrument because flutes were once fashioned from the tibia (of animals).

The fibula runs alongside the tibia. The word “fibula” is a Latin word that designates a clasp or brooch. The fibula was likened by the ancients to a clasp attaching it to the tibia to form a brooch.