Forms: 3–7 ioynt, 4–6 ioynte, iointe, (ioynct(e, 5 geynt(t)e, iuynt, iunte, ionte, yonte, yuncte, 6–7 ioinct, ioint, 7 jonct, 8 Sc. junt), 7– joint. [a. OF. joint and jointe, sb. use of joint, -te (:—L. junctum, juncta), pa. pple. of joindre to join.]
I. The place or part at which two things or parts are joined or fitted together; a junction.
1. An arrangement, structure or mechanism in an animal body, whereby two bones (or corresponding parts of an invertebrate animal) are fitted together, either rigidly, or (esp.) so as to move upon one another; an articulation.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 186/42. Euerech Ioynt and senue.
1388. Wyclif, Dan. x. 16. My ioynctis ben vnknit.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 19. In bringyng to her placis ioyntis þat ben oute.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 227. Tho men whych haue the neke wel dystyncted by his yontes.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xxiii. 307. It will breke ilk ionte in hym.
1553. Eden, Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.), 15. There be some men which thincke that Elephantes haue no ioyntes in theyr legges.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, III. (Arb.), 75. A cold sweat saltish through my ioynctes fiercely dyd enter.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., III. iii. 75. How dare thy ioynts forget To pay their awfull dutie to our presence?
1665. Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Warres, 299. For avoiding the Gout, and other pains of the Joynts.
1726. Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., III. 34/1. The Joynt of the Wrist.
1873. Mivart, Elem. Anat., ii. 23. The contiguous surfaces of such movable bones form THE ‘JOINTS.’
2. Phr. Out of joint. a. lit. Said of a bone displaced from its articulation with another; dislocated; also of the part or member affected.
To put any one’s nose out of joint: see NOSE.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. X. 215. He … is lame, oþer his leg out of ioynte.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 62. Whanne … þe boon … is to-broke atwo and dislocate—þat is to seie out of ioynte.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. xxi[i.] 14. All my bones are out of ioynt.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, II. 109. Had her shoulder put out of joinct.
1652. Culpepper, Eng. Physic., 3. It helpeth to strengthen the members that be out of joynt.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, III. x. He had like to have shook his shoulder out of joint.
b. fig. Disordered, perverted, out of order, disorganized. (Said of things, conditions, etc.; formerly also of persons in relation to conduct.)
1415. Hoccleve, To Sir J. Oldcastle, 200. Thow haast been out of ioynt al to longe.
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 766. They might peradventure bring the matter so farre out of ioynt, that it should never be brought in frame againe.
1602. Shaks., Ham., I. v. 188. The time is out of ioynt: Oh cursed spight, That euer I was borne to set it right.
1842. Tennyson, Locksley Hall, 133. All things here are out of joint.
1871. Lowell, Pope, Pr. Wks. 1890, IV. 18. The loyalty of everybody both in politics and in religion had been put out of joint.
3. A part of the stem of a plant from which a leaf or branch grows (esp. when thickened, as in grasses, so as to resemble a knee- or elbow-joint); a node.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 138. Se that it haue a good knot or ioynte and an euen.
1552. Huloet, Ioynt of a cane, rede, strawe, or suche lyke, geniculum, nodus.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, II. 84/2. The knot or joynt from whence a years growth proceeds.
1698. Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 105. Its Leafs are small, and come out at its Joints.
1863. Fr. A. Kemble, Resid. in Georgia, 87. From each of the notches or joints of the recumbent cane.
1866. Treas. Bot., 516/2. G[aleopsis] Tetrahit … is well marked by its hispid stem, which is singularly swollen beneath the joints.
4. That wherein or whereby two component members or elements of an artificial structure or mechanism are joined or fitted together, either so as to be rigidly fixed (as e.g. bricks, stones, pieces of timber, rails, lengths of pipe, etc.), or so that one can move upon the other while still remaining connected with it (as in a hinge, pivot, swivel).
Universal joint, a contrivance by which one of two connected parts of a machine is made capable of moving freely in any direction with respect to the other.
c. 1420. St. Etheldred, 718, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1881), 298. Þat ston was well ygraue euery geyntte.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 264/2. Ioynte, or knytty[n]ge to-gedur, what so they be, compago.
14[?]. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 590/46. Junctura, a Juynt.
1559. Churchw. Acc. St. Mich., Cornhill, For new joynts and ij cramps to Mr. Machyns pewe dore.
1589. Nashe, Pasq. & Marforius, 9. The ioyntes of that house begin to gape.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 876. Stones … so cunningly layed that one could not see the ioints.
1703. T. N., City & C. Purchaser, 51. Let Care be taken that Bricks be not laid Joynt on Joynt.
1831. Brewster, Nat. Magic, xi. (1833), 275. The part … to which the quadrants are attached, moves on a joint.
1856. S. C. Brees, Gloss. Terms, 463. The universal joint is of great use for conveying angular motion when it can be applied in couplings.
1884. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, I. iii. 174. There is no armour but it has its joints, And where the joints are there the arrow sticks.
1893. Law Times, XCV. 62/2. The joints of the pipes were not properly cemented.
b. To break joint: see BREAK v. 31. † Breaking joint, an arrangement of bricks, stones, timbers, etc., in which the joints are not continuous (obs.).
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 44. That the Bording be with breaking Joynts.
1856. Olmsted, Slave States, 666. Planting is done by laying the cuttings … three always together, with the eyes of each a little removed from those of the others—that is, all ‘breaking joints.’
5. Geol. A crack or fissure intersecting a mass of rock; usually occurring in sets of parallel planes, dividing the mass into more or less regular blocks.
1601. Holland, Pliny, II. 611. The Bactrian Emerauds … bee in chinkes and joints (as it were) of rockes in the sea.
1761. A. Catcott, Treat. Deluge, III. (1768), 306. The tops of rocks and summits of the highest mountains are sometimes divided by joints into separate pieces.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., Gloss. s.v., The partings which divide columnar basalt into prisms are joints.
1882. Geikie, Text-bk. Geol., IV. II. 501. All rocks are traversed more or less distinctly by vertical or highly inclined planes termed Joints.
† 6. A connecting point of time. Obs. rare.
a. 1638. Mede, Wks. (1672), 585. To shew the connexion of that vision of the book with the joynt which begins the seventh Trumpet.
a. 1679. T. Goodwin, Knowl. Father & Son, in Spurgeon, Treas. Dav., Ps. cii. 24. I note these several joints of time, because the Scripture notes them.
II. One of the parts or sections by the longitudinal union of which a body is made up.
7. A portion of an animal or plant body connected with another portion by a joint or articulation (see 1–3); esp. such a portion or section of a limb, or of the stem of a plant, an internode.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVII. 175. Þe paume hath powere to put oute alle þe ioyntes, And to vnfolde þe folden fuste.
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., V. 162. Kitte out a ioynt of reed, and in the side Therof let make an hole.
c. 1420. St. Etheldred, 880, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1881), 302. Þat ston was y-shape as mete for hurre body … Þat no geynte of hurre body lay þerinne amys.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., IV. v. 233. I haue with exact view perus’d thee Hector, And quoted ioynt by ioynt.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Past., II. 45. Of seven smooth Joints a mellow Pipe I have.
1828. Stark, Elem. Nat. Hist., II. 303. Antennæ short, of nine joints.
1869. Huxley, Phys., i. (ed. 3), 7. The several joints of the fingers and toes have the common denomination of phalanges.
8. spec. One of the portions into which a carcass is divided by the butcher, consisting of one or more bones (e.g., that of the leg or shoulder) with the meat thereon; esp. as cooked and served at table.
1576. Gascoigne, Flowers, Wks. (1587), 40. An olde frutedish is bigge ynough to hold a ioynte of meate.
1592. Nashe, P. Penilesse (ed. 2), 21. There being one ioynt of flesh on the table.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 115. They serve small peeces of flesh (not whole joints as with us).
1726. Swift, Gulliver, III. ii. The joints that were served to his majesty’s table.
1883. Mattieu Williams, in Knowledge, 11 May, 274. A single wing rib, or other joint of three to five pounds weight.
† 9. gen. A portion, ‘article,’ item. Obs. rare.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 5093. Y rede we þanke hym of euery poynt, Syn we may nat forbere þe lest Ioynt.
III. Something constructed with a joint or joints.
† 10. (app.) A snuff-box (with a hinged lid). Obs.
c. 1701. Cibber, Love makes Man, III. iii. Sir, I have lost my Snuff-box…. I’ll go to Paris, split me … They make the best joynts in Europe there.
11. Betting slang. An outside bookmaker’s paraphernalia of list-frame, umbrella, etc., some of which are joined together in movable pieces.
1899. Daily News, 15 March, 5/5. It was positively ridiculous to see the police knocking down bookmakers’ ‘joints’ every time the inspector came round, and looking passively on all the rest of the time.
IV. † 12. = JOINTURE 4. Obs.
1513. Bradshaw, St. Werburge, I. 1900. Whiche place was gyuen to her Ioynt and dowry By Tombert her husbande. Ibid., 1951. Whiche (as afore is sayd) was her Ioynt and dowry.
† 13. A coming together, meeting; the action of joining battle; attack, onset. Obs.
c. 1540. trans. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden, No. 29), 68. At the first ioncte [L. in primo congressu] many fell on both sides.
14. slang or colloq. (chiefly U.S.) A partnership or union, or a place of meeting or resort, esp. of persons engaged in some illicit occupation; spec. (in America) a place illegally kept (usually by Chinese) for opium-smoking, an opium-den; also applied to illicit drinking-saloons.
1883. H. H. Kane, in Harper’s Mag., Nov., 944/2. I have … smoked opium in every joint in America.
1885. Homilet. Rev., Aug., 179/2. A few months since the police made a raid on a ‘joint’ at No. 44 Clinton Place, and found seven men there smoking the drug.
1885. Daily Tel., 18 Aug., 3/2 (Farmer). This class of thieves, and when they agree on a partnership or ‘joint,’ as the slang phrase is, they work one for the other as they best can.
1887. A. E. Jenks, in Lippincott’s Mag. (U.S.), Aug., 290. The student, upon reaching his ‘joint,’ as the club is called, hurriedly bolts a few mouthfuls of breakfast and swallows a cup of coffee.
1899. Rowntree & Sherwell, Temperance Prob., iii. 197. There were from sixty to eighty ‘joints’ (i.e., illicit liquor places) in the city.
V. 15. attrib. and Comb., as (in sense 1) joint-adhesion, -disease, -pain, -stiffening; joint-like, -racking adjs.; (in sense 4) joint-collar, -end, -maker, -making, -pin, -splice, -strip, -test; joint-bedded a. (Masonry), of a stone: placed so that its natural bed (or horizontal surface) forms a vertical joint of the work; distinguished from face-bedded, in which the horizontal surface is made to form the face of the work; joint-chair (Railways), a chair (see CHAIR sb. 12) supporting the rails at a joint; joint-coupling, ‘a form of universal joint for coupling sections of shafting’ (Knight); joint-evil, a name of Elephantiasis nodosa; joint-file, a small file of circular section, used for dressing the holes in hinge-joints; joint-fir, a name for plants of the N.O. Gnetaceæ; joint-hinge, the same as a strap-hinge; joint-ill (see quot.); joint-oil, the secretion that lubricates the joints between the bones, synovia; joint-pipe, a small section of gas- or steam-pipe, forming a connection between two lengths of pipe; joint-pliers, a small kind of pliers used by watchmakers and mathematical instrument makers; joint-rule, a rule made of pieces jointed or hinged together so as to fold up; joint-saw, a saw with a curved working face, used in making the joints of compasses and the like; † joint-sick a., diseased in the joints; so † joint-sickness, disease of the joints; gout; joint-snake = glass-snake (see GLASS sb.1 16); † joint-sponge, a morbid spongy concretion in the joints (obs.); joint-water, synovia (= joint-oil); esp. a flux of this in diseases of the joints; joint-wire, tubular wire, used for hinge-joints in watches, etc., a solid wire being passed through it to form the joint; joint-wood = JOINTER2 3 q.v. See also JOINT-ACHE, -GRASS, etc.
1896. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., I. 381. The forcible breaking up of *joint-adhesions.
1883. Stonemason, Jan. A great advantage is gained by working all string courses, cornices, and copings *‘joint-bedded’ with the exception of quoins which should be placed on their natural bed.
1856. S. C. Brees, Gloss. Terms, 100. The chairs for receiving the ends of two rails are termed *joint, or double chairs.
1889. G. Findlay, Eng. Railway, 44. Up to the year 1847 the ends of the rails rested on joint chairs.
1680. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., xi. § 7 (1683), I. 201. The *Joynt-Coller is made of two Iron Cheeks … moving upon a Joint.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., III. 73. Neural arthritis comprises all *joint diseases which are the sequel of central or peripheral nerve-lesions.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., ii. (1683), I. 19. Put the *Joint-end of the Hinge into the Fire.
1669. B. Wellis (title), Treatise of the *Joint Evil.
1683. Tryon, Way to Health, xix. (1697), 419. Leprous Scabby Diseases, Joint-evils, and that which they call the Kings-Evil.
1744. Mitchell, in Phil. Trans., XLIII. 144. Lepra Arabum, two Species of which are called, the Yaws, and the Joint-Evil.
1866. Treas. Bot., 538/1. Gnetaceæ. (*Joint Firs.) … Small trees or creeping shrubs … with jointed stems and branches.
1892. H. Dalziel, Dis. Dogs (ed. 3), 14. Anthrax … a disease of cattle, known in the vernacular as … *‘joint ill.’
a. 1661. Fuller, Worthies, Wiltsh., 145. The *joint-like knots … will fat swine.
1725. Lond. Gaz., No. 6380/12. James Low,… *Jointmaker.
1900. Daily News, 25 Aug., 5/1. The old system of *joint-making by ‘junction pieces,’ or splicing and soldering, has also been abandoned.
1887. Mivart, in Encycl. Brit., XXII. 111/1. An albuminous fluid called ‘synovia,’ and commonly known as *‘joint-oil.’
1653. R. Sanders, Physiogn., b j. Foot-gout, knee-gout, and all *joint-pains whatsoever.
1710. T. Fuller, Pharm. Extemp., 433. Water of Millepedes … is useful … in scorbutic Joint-pains.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 74. The *joint-pins must either have nuts and screws, or other proper fastenings, to keep them in their several places. Ibid. To drill both the arm frames … and the circle … together, that the joint pin-holes in all three may correspond exactly with each other, and particularly from the centre of each.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 488. Dropsies, and Asthma’s, and *Joint-racking Rheums.
1708. J. Philips, Cyder, II. 77. Joint-racking Gout … and pining Atrophy.
1680. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., xi. § 7 (1683), I. 201. Moving upon a Joint … as the two insides of the *Joynt-Rule Carpenters use.
1692. Capt. Smith’s Seaman’s Gram., II. 160. I have no other Instrument but my Two Foot Joynt Rule.
a. 1618. J. Davies, Wit’s Pilgr. (1878), 41/1. How, from this *Ioynt-sick Age to bite the Gowt?
1545. Elyot, Biblioth., Arthetica passio,… the *ioynte syckenesse: the goute.
1684. T. Ghyles (title), A Brief and Plain Description of the Joynt-Sickness: Also, An Introduction, leading exactly to the Cure of the Gout.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 221. The *joint snake … is a great curiosity, [breaking into pieces when struck, without bleeding].
1658. A. Fox, Würtz’ Surg., I. vi. 26. A *Joint-sponge is nothing else but a moisture of the sinew-water, which groweth on and turneth hard, and settleth there.
1599. A. M., trans. Gabelhouer’s Bk. Physicke, 324/2. How we shoulde restrayne the fluxion of the Synnue, or *Ioyntewater.
1658. A. Fox, Würtz’ Surg., II. xiv. 102. The joynt water, that is, the humidity of joynts and sinews.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Joint Water, a term used by our farriers, for … a running of a clear ichor from the Joints, when they are either wounded or ulcerated.
