Copy of `University of Sydney - Anatomy glossary`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.

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

body
the main part.

border
see margin.

brachiocephalic
Latin brachium = arm, and Greek kephale = head, hence a blood vessel related to the upper limb and head.

brachium
Latin = arm, adjective - brachial.

branchia
Greek = gills, adjective - branchial.

bregma
from a Greek word implying moist, referring to the site of the anterior fontanelle (q.v.), a little fountain, the site of junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures, where the brain can be felt pulsating in infancy.

brevis
Latin = short - cf. brief.

bronchiole
diminutive of bronchus, hence a small bronchus (bronchi have cartilage in their walls, bronchioles have no cartilage).

bronchus
derivation unhelpful - a branch of the trachea, adjective - bronchial.

buccal
adjective, Latin bucca = cheek.

buccinator
Latin = trumpeter - hence the muscle which blows air out from the cheek under pressure.

bulbus
Latin = bulb or onion.

bulla
Latin = bubble.

bursa
Greek = a purse, hence a flattened sac containing a film of fluid.

caecum
Latin = blind.

calcaneus
Latin calx = heel, hence the bone of the heel.

calcar
Latin = a spur.

calcar avis
Latin the spur of a bird, hence a spur-like elevation.

calcarine
Latin calcar = spur, hence spur-shaped.

calf
the soft tissue swelling at the back of the leg.

calix
Latin = a wine-cup (plural - calices).

callosum
Latin callum = hard.

calvaria
Latin calva = bald head, hence the part of the skull containing the brain - i.e. cranium minus the facial skeleton.

calyx
Latin = a wine-cup (plural - calyces).

canal
Latin canalis = a water-pipe or canal.

canaliculus
diminutive of canal.

cancellous
adjective, Latin cancelli = grating or lattice.

canine
adjective, Latin canis = dog.

canthus
Greek kanthos - used at first for rim of eye, then angle between ends of rims.

capillary
Latin capillaris = hair-like, hence a very thin blood vessel.

capitate
adjective, having a caput from Latin capitis = of a head (q.v.).

capitulum
diminutive of caput, Latin = head.

capsule
Latin capsa = box, hence an enclosing sheet.

caput
Latin = head. Capitis - of a head, adjective - capitate = having a head (cf. decapitate).

caput medusae
Latin caput = head, Medusa = Greek mythical female with snake like hair.

cardiac
adjective, Greek kardia = heart.

cardinal
Latin cardinalis = principal, of primary importance.

carina
Latin = a keel.

carneae
Latin carnea = fleshy.

carotid
Greek karoo, to put to sleep (heavy sleep), because compression of the common or internal carotid artery may cause coma.

carpus
Greek = wrist, adjective - carpal.

cartilage
Latin = gristle; adjective - cartilaginous.

caruncle
diminutive of Latin caro = flesh, hence, a small fleshy elevation.

cauda
Latin = tail, adjective - caudate - having a tail.

cauda equina
Latin = a horse's tail.

caudal
Latin cauda = tail, hence toward the tail, inferior (in human anatomy).

caudate
Latin cauda = tail, hence having a tail.

cava
Latin cavum = cave, hollow.

cavernous
Latin containing caverns or cave-like spaces.

cavity
Latin cavitas = a hollow.

cavum
Latin = cave.

cecum
Latin = blind.

celiac
adjective, Greek koilia = belly.

celom
Greek koilos = a hollow

central
adjective, Latin centrum = centre.

centrum
Latin = centre.

cephalic
adjective, Greek kephale = head.

cerebellum
diminutive of Latin cerebrum = brain.

cerebrum
Latin = brain, adjective - cerebral.

cerumen
Latin cera = wax.

cervical
adjective, Latin cervix = neck, hence, pertaining to the neck.

cervix
Latin = neck, adjective - cervical.

chiasma
Greek kiasma = cross. (The Greek letter chi = c).

choana
Greek = funnel, plural - choanae.

chondral
adjective, Greek chondros = cartilage.

chorda
Latin = cord.

choroid
adjective, Greek chorion = skin and eidos = shape or form, hence, like a membrane.

chyle
Greek = juice.

chyli
Greek = juice.

ciliary
adjective, Latin cilia = eyelashes.

cilium
Latin = eyelid, hence, an eyelash; adjective - ciliary, or ciliated.

cinereum
Latin cineris = of ashes.

cingulum
Latin girdle or belt, adjective - cingulate.

circumflex
verb and adjective, Latin circum = around, and flexere = to bend, hence, bend or bent around.

cisterna
Latin = a cistern.

claustrum
Latin clausum = closed, hence a barrier.

clavicle
diminutive of Latin clavis = key - old Roman key was S-shaped.

cleido
Greek, cleis = key, a combining form denoting relationship to the clavicle.

clinoid
adjective, Greek kline = bed, eidos = shape or form, hence, like a bed-post.

clivus
Latin = slope (cf. declivity).

cloaca
Latin = a drain, sewer; common opening for intestinal, urinary and genital tracts in lower vertebrates, it is a transitory structure in human embryological development.

coccyx
Greek kokkyx = cuckoo, whose bill the coccyx resembles.

cochlea
Latin = snail, hence the spiral cochlea, adjective - cochlear.

coeliac
adjective, Greek koilia = belly.

coeruleus
adjective, Latin = blue, hence, locus coeruleus, a group of nerve cells in the rostral pons coloured blue or black by melanin.

coli
Latin = of the colon.

collateral
adjective, Latin con = together, and latus = side, hence, alongside.

colli
genetive (possessive case) of collum, Latin = neck

colliculus
diminutive of Latin collis = hill.

collum
Latin = neck (cf. collar).

colon
Greek kolon = large intestine.

columna
Latin = column, or pillar.

comitans
adjective, Latin = accompanying.

commissure
Latin con = together, and missum = sent, hence fibres which cross between symmetrical parts.

communicans
adjective, Latin = communicating.

concha
Latin = shell.

condyle
Greek kondylos = knuckle.

confluens
Latin con = together, and fluens = flowing, hence the meeting of more than one stream.

conjunctiva
Latin con = with, and junctus = joined (cf. junction), hence the continuous bulbar and palpebral lining membrane.

conoid
Greek konoeides = resembling a cone, cone shape