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The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provides a definition of what is at the front ("anterior"), behind ("posterior") and so on. As part of defining and describing terms, the body is described through the use of anatomical planes and anatomical axes.
Older set of terminology shown in Parts of the Human Body: Posterior and Anterior View from the 1933 edition of Sir Henry Morris' Human Anatomy. Many of these terms are medical latin terms that have fallen into disuse. Front: Frons - forehead; Facies - face; Pectus - breast; Latus - flank; Coxa - hip; Genu - knee; Pes - foot; Back: Vertex ...
Anatomical terminology is a specialized system of terms used by anatomists, zoologists, and health professionals, such as doctors, surgeons, and pharmacists, to describe the structures and functions of the body. This terminology incorporates a range of unique terms, prefixes, and suffixes derived primarily from Ancient Greek and Latin.
Dorsal and ventral: In animals with linear nervous systems, the term dorsal (from the Latin dorsum, meaning "back") is synonymous with superior and the term ventral (from the Latin venter, meaning "belly") is synonymous with inferior. In humans, however, the terminology differs on either side of the midbrain-diencephalic junction.
In medical disciplines, all references to a location on or in the body are made based upon the standard anatomical position. A straight position is assumed when describing a proximo-distal axis (towards or away from a point of attachment). This helps avoid confusion in terminology when referring to the same organism in different postures.
Anatomical terminology [ edit on Wikidata ] The transverse plane (also known as the horizontal plane , axial plane and transaxial plane ) is an anatomical plane that divides the body into superior and inferior sections. [ 1 ]
Some of these terms come from Latin. Sagittal means "like an arrow", a reference to the position of the spine that naturally divides the body into right and left equal halves, the exact meaning of the term "midsagittal", or to the shape of the sagittal suture, which defines the sagittal plane and is shaped like an arrow.
This is a list of roots, suffixes, and prefixes used in medical terminology, their meanings, and their etymologies. Most of them are combining forms in Neo-Latin and hence international scientific vocabulary. There are a few general rules about how they combine.