The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint that allows motion and gives stability needed to bear body weight. The socket area (acetabulum) is inside the pelvis. The ball part of this joint is the top of the thighbone (femur). It joins with the acetabulum to form the hip joint.

Is the hip a bone or a joint?

One of the body's largest weight-bearing joints, the hip is where the thigh bone meets the pelvis to form a ball-and-socket joint. The hip joint consists of two main parts: Femoral head – a ball-shaped piece of bone located at the top of your thigh bone, or femur.

What type of joint was the hip?

The hip joint (see the image below) is a ball-and-socket synovial joint: the ball is the femoral head, and the socket is the acetabulum. The hip joint is the articulation of the pelvis with the femur, which connects the axial skeleton with the lower extremity.