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University of Sydney - Anatomy glossary Category: Sciences > Anatomy glossary Date & country: 25/01/2011, AU Words: 1008

abdomen
Latin abdomen = the belly, the part of the trunk between thorax and the perineum, adjective - abdominal.

abducent
Latin ab = from, and ducens = led, hence, moving from, or effecting separation.

abduction
Latin ab = from, and ductum = led, hence, movement from; verb - abduct.

aberrant
Latin ab = from, and errare = to wander, hence, deviating from normal.

accessory
adjective, Latin accessum = added, hence, supplementary.

accommodation
Latin ad = to, and modus = measure, hence, adaptation of the optical power (focussing) of the eye for shorter distances.

acetabulum
Latin acetum = vinegar (cf. acetic), and abulum = small receptacle, hence, a vinegar cup, hence, the socket for the head of the femur, adjective - acetabular.

acoustic
adjective, Greek akoustikos, related to hearing.

acromion
Greek akros = summit (cf. Acropolis) and omos = shoulder, hence, the tip of the shoulder.

adduction
Latin ad = to, and ductum = led, hence, movement towards; verb - adduct.

adenoid
Greek aden = a gland, eidos = shape or form.

adhesion
Latin ad = to, and haesus = stuck, hence, stuck to, e.g., interthalamic adhesion - variable and functionally insignificant.

adipose
Latin adeps = fat, hence fatty

aditus
Latin ad = to, towards, iter = a way, hence an opening or entrance.

adrenal
Latin ad = towards, at, ren = kidney, hence situated near the kidney (see suprarenal)

adrenergic
adjective, Latin ad = at, ren = kidney, and Greek ergon = work, hence, stimuli which cause the adrenal (suprarenal) gland to produce adrenaline. Used to specify neurons or pathways which use adrenaline as a transmitter.

afferent
adjective, Latin ad = to, and ferent = carrying (cf. ferry), hence, carrying to, e.g., axons carrying information from retina to lateral geniculate nucleus are afferents to that nucleus.

agger nasi
Latin = eminence of the nose.

agonist
Greek agonistes = rival, hence, a muscle in apparent contest with another. Used for a prime mover.

ala
Latin wing, hence a wing-like process; plural - alae.

alaeque
Latin ala = wing (ala of nose), suffix -que = and, hence levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscles = lifter of the upper lip and ala of nose.

alba
Latin albus = white

albicans
Latin = becoming white; albus = white

albuginea
Latin albus = white, Greek gen = form, hence, like boiled white of an egg.

alimentary
adjective, Latin alimentum = food, e.g., alimentary canal.

allantois
Greek allantos = sausage, eidos = like, form.

allocortex
Greek allos = other (than usual), and Latin cortex = bark, hence non-laminated external grey matter. It refers to paleo- or archi-cortex, as distinct from neocortex.

alveolus
Latin a basin, hence any small hollow. Plural - alveoli, adjective - alveolar.

alveus
Latin = tray. The allusion is unclear. The alveus is a layer of fibres on the free surface of the hippocampus.

ambiguus
adjective, Latin = doubtful (nucleus ambiguus).

ampulla
Latin = a two-handed flask, a local dilatation of a tube.

amygdaloid
adjective, Greek amygdala = almond, and eidos = shape or form, hence, amygdaloid body is an almond-shaped mass.

amylacea
Greek amylon = starch, hence, starchy.

anaesthesia
Greek an = negative, and aisthesis = sensation, hence, loss of sensation; adjective - anaesthetic.

analgesia
Greek an = negative, and algesis = pain, hence insensibility to pain; adjective - analgesic.

analogous
Greek ana = up, apart, towards, and logos = word. A part with similar function through different morphology e.g., fish gills and mammalian lungs (c.f. homologous).

anastomosis
Greek ana = of each, and stoma = mouth, hence the end-to-end continuity of 2 vessels; adjective - anastomotic.

anatomy
Greek ana = up, and tome = a cutting, hence cutting up of a body (c.f. dissection).

anconeus
Greek ancon = elbow, hence the muscle attached to the (lateral surface of the) olecranon.

aneurysm
Greek angeion = blood vessel, and eurys = wide, hence a pathological dilatation of a blood vessel.

angiography
Greek angeion (v.s.) and graphe = a record, hence a picture of a blood vessel which has been injected with a dye or radiopaque material.

anhidrosis
(anhydrosis, anidrosis) Greek an = negative, and hidros = sweat, hence absence of sweating, typical of skin deprived of its sympathetic innervation.

ankle
the region between the leg and the foot.

annulus
diminutive of Latin anus = ring, hence little ring.

ansa
Latin a handle or loop. Applicable to nerves.

anserinus
Latin anser = a goose, hence like a goose, plural - anserina.

antagonist
Greek anti = against, and agonistes = rival, hence a muscle which may oppose an agonist.

anteflexion
Latin ante = before, and flexere = to bend, hence anterior angulation between the body and cervix of the uterus.

anterior
comparative of Latin ante = before, in front.

anteversion
Latin ante = before, and versum = turned, hence, the anterior angulation between cervix uteri and the vagina.

antidromic
adjective, Greek a = negative, and dromos = current, hence conducting in the opposite direction to the usual.

antrum
Greek antron - cave, hence a space in a bone or organ.

anulus
diminutive of Latin anus = ring, hence little ring.

anus
Latin = ring, adjective - anal.

aponeurosis
Greek apo = from, and neuron = tendon (later applied to nerve cell and its fibres), used for sheet-like tendons. Adjective - aponeurotic.

apophysis
Greek apo = from, and physis = growth, hence, a bony process - reserved for the articular process of a vertebra; adjective - apophysial.

appendage
Latin appendere = to hang on, supplement.

appendix
Latin appendere = to hang on, supplement.

apposition
Latin appositus = placed at, hence, in contact, in juxtaposition.

aqueduct
Latin aqua = water, and ductus = drawn or led off, hence a channel for conducting fluid, e.g. the cerebral aqueduct of the midbrain, which transmits fluid from the 3rd to the 4th ventricle.

arachnoid
adjective, Greek arachne = spider, and eidos = shape or form, hence like a spiders web. This middle layer of the three meninges is spread web-like over the brain when the dura has been removed.

arbor vitae
Latin arbor = tree, and vita = life, hence, resembling the tree of life. This colourful term is used to describe the pattern of cerebellar folia seen in a median section.

archaeocerebellum
Greek archi = first, hence the oldest part of the cerebellum, which is the flocculonodular lobe.

archaeopallium
Greek archi = first, and pallium = cloak, hence the cortex which developed first in vertebrates. Often synonymous with hippocampal formation.

archicerebellum
Greek archi = first, hence the oldest part of the cerebellum, which is the flocculonodular lobe.

archipallium
Greek archi = first, and pallium = cloak, hence the cortex which developed first in vertebrates. Often synonymous with hippocampal formation.

archistriatum
Greek archi = first, and Latin striatum = streaked or fluted.

arcuate
Latin arcuatum = curved or arched.

arcus
Latin an arch, Latin arcuatum = curved or arched.

area
a part of a surface.

areola
Latin small, open space.

arm
the upper limb, between shoulder and elbow.

arrector
Latin adrectus = raised, hence, arrector pili = a hair-raising muscle.

artery
Latin arteria (which originally meant air- or wind-pipe, and later a blood vessel carrying blood away from the heart).

articulation
Latin artus = joint, hence, articulate - to form a joint.

arytenoid
Greek arytaina = pitcher, and eidos = shape or form, hence the arytenoid cartilage because it curves like a spout.

aspect
a view of more than one surface.

aspera
Latin rough.

asterion
Greek asterios = starry.

astrocyte
Greek astron = star, and kytos = cell, hence a star-shaped (neuroglial) cell.

ataxia,
Greek a = negative, and taxis = order, hence inability to co-ordinate the voluntary muscles.

atlas
Greek atlao = I sustain. Atlas was a mythical god who sustained the globe on his shoulders. The 1st vertebra sustains the skull, and its upper surface bears 2 concavities which suggest Atlas' palms, not shoulders.

atresia
Greek a = negative, and tresis = a hole, hence an absence or closure of a body orifice or tubular organ

atrium
Latin = entrance hall, adjective - atrial.

atrophy
Greek a = negative, and trophe = food, hence wasting from starvation.

auditory
Latin audire = to hear, hence, pertaining to the ear.

auricle
Latin auricula = a little ear.

auscultate
Latin ausculto = to listen to, hence, auscultation, the act of listening to a bodily activity.

autonomic
adjective, Greek auto = self, and nomos = law, hence self-regulating.

axilla
Latin armpit.

axis
Latin axis = the central line of a body or part thereof, especially the imaginary line around which rotation takes place.

axon
Latin axis = axis, hence the main process of a neuron conducting impulses away from the cell body.

azygos
adjective, Greek a = negative, and zygos = paired, hence, unpaired.

basilar
adjective, Latin basis = base.

basilic
adjective, Greek basilikos = royal (king-sized).

biceps
Latin bis = double, and caput = head, hence 2-headed, adjective - bicipital.

bifid
adjective, Latin bis = double, and findo = to split.

bifurcate
Latin bis = double, and furco = fork, hence to divide into two.

bilateral
Latin bi = two, lateral = side, hence, pertaining to two (both) sides.

bipennate
adjective, Latin bis = double, and pinna = feather, hence converging from 2 sides.