Plantarflex

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To point the foot and toes downward by contracting the calf muscles and bending the ankle joint
2. To rotate the sole of the foot in a downward direction away from the shin by flexing muscles along the back of the leg
3. To curl the foot and toes downward and away from the body by moving at the ankle joint

Etymology: "Plantarflex" is a compound built from two parts: "plantar," from Latin "planta," meaning the sole of the foot, and "flex," from Latin "flectere," to bend. Put together, the term describes bending the foot downward at the ankle, so that the sole moves away from the shin and the toes point down, as when rising onto the balls of the feet or pressing a car's accelerator. The construction is transparent: "plantar" describes anything relating to the sole, and "flex" supplies the action of bending, so the word names the movement itself rather than a thing. Its opposite, dorsiflexion, bends the foot upward toward the shin, and the two terms are used together in anatomy and physiotherapy to describe ankle motion in both directions.

Antonyms: dorsiflex