Malleus, Latin for hammer; the auditory ossicle that articulates with the the incus medially and the tympanic membrane laterally.

As the incus (Latin for anvil) does bear a striking resemblance to anvils going back to ancient Rome, you'd be justified in assuming that the naming of the malleus was inspired by the blacksmith's hammer. Indeed, the bone does have a long handle and a head that articulates with the incus, just as the hammer of a blacksmith should. However, it resembles not the hammer of the smithy but the hammer of the priest, used to stun oxen prior to sacrifice; butchers used it too. This tool was large and heavy, requiring two hands and not an obvious inspiration for the name of one of the smallest bones of the body. However, it had a distinctively round head like that of the ossicle and thus the bone was so designated as the malleus.

The shape of the sacrificial hammer may also explain the rather mysterious naming of the lateral malleolus and medial malleolus, the "little hammers" of the ankle that are so much larger the malleus of the ear. These rounded bony processes were probably given their name because they reminded Vaselius, who first used the term anatomically, of small versions of the large, round head of a malleus.

Other words derived from malleus include mallet and malleable, the latter in reference to metals such as gold that could be molded with hammer blows.

The malleus; adapted from Anatomy of the Human Body; Henry Gray. 1918

A sacrificial malleus from ancient Rome, from An Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon, Anthony Rich. 1849