ANATOMY: Useful Terminology

I’m taking 2 anatomy classes this semester and will be writing about it as I go, so to kick things off, here’s some vocabulary. A lot of this can be found on Wikipedia but it’s completely tl;dr. I’ll keep adding to this over time.

Location

Anterior: front.

Posterior: back.

Superior: higher, so towards the head.

Inferior: lower.

Medial: inner, towards the center line (called the median, of all things).

Lateral: outer, away from the center.

Proximal:  the end of a limb/bone/part that is closer to the root (torso), such as the base of a finger.

Distal: the far end, further from the root (torso), such as the tip of a finger.

Dorsal: 2 uses. The top of the hand/foot, or the back.

Palmar: just like it sounds…the palm.

Plantar: bottom of the foot.

Movement

Flexion: movement that decreases the angle between two bones. As in flexing your bicep or bending your knee.

Extension: increases the angle between two bones. The triceps is an extensor.

Abduction: moves away from the centerline, like lifting your arm out (laterally).

Adduction: moves towards the centerline, like dropping those arms back down.

Pronation/Supination – These are forearm specific and have to do with the way it’s rotated.

Pronation: palm down or facing back (posterior).

Supination: palm up or forward-facing (anterior).

 

Connectors

Tendon: connects muscle to bone.

Ligament: connects bone to bone.

Cartilage: like soft bone. Found in the nose, ears, between vertebrae and on and on and on.

Fascia: the saran wrap of the body. It’s found everywhere and basically holds things together.

 

Bones – Will be expanded, here are just some broad categories and examples.

Long Bones: femur, clavicle. For movement.

Short Bones: carpals. Limited movement.

Flat Bones: scapula, hip. Mostly protective.

Irregular Bones: vertebrae, patella, hyoid

Joints – I’ll expand this later. For now, these are the types.

Ball and Socket

Hinge

Suture

Saddle

Swivel