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

epiphysis
Greek epi = upon, and physis = growth, hence, the end of a long bone beyond the cartilaginous growth disc, adjective - epiphysial.

epiploic
adjective, Greek epiploon = a net, which the greater omentum resembles with fat entangled in it.

epithelium
Greek epi = upon, and thele = the nipple; the cell layer lining the internal and external surfaces of the body.

erector
Latin erectus = straight or upright.

erigentes
plural, Latin erigere = to erect.

ethmoid
adjective, Greek ethmos = sieve, and eidos = shape or form, hence, like a sieve; an unpaired skull bone.

eversion
Latin e = out, and versum = turned, hence turned outwards.

exophthalmos
Greek exo = out, and ophthalmos = eye, hence, prominent eyeball.

extend
Latin extendo = extend or stretch out, hence, extension = extended or straightened; the position opposite to the flexed or bent.

external
adjective, Latin externus = outward, hence, further from the inside.

extraperitoneal
adjective, Latin extra = outside, Greek peri = around and teinein = stretched, hence outside the serous membrane stretched around the inside of the abdominal wall and around the viscera.

extrapyramidal
Latin extra = outside, and pyramidal (q.v.), hence descending nerve tracts that do not traverse the pyramids of the medulla.

extrinsic
Latin extrinsecus = from without, hence (usually) a muscle (usually) originating outside the part on which it acts.

fabella
diminutive of Latin faba = a bean, hence, a sesamoid bone found in the lateral head of gastrocnemius.

facet
Latin facies = face, hence a small smooth bony surface, either coated with articular cartilage or the site of a tendinous attachment (cf. a facet on a diamond).

facilitate
Latin facilis = easy, hence, to make easy.

falciform
adjective, Latin falx = a sickle, and forma = form, hence, shaped like a sickle.

falx
Latin = sickle, hence, the sickle-shaped falx cerebri and falx cerebelli, adjective - falciform.

fascia
Latin = band or bandage, hence the fibrous wrapping of muscles - deep fascia, or the subcutaneous layer of fatty connective tissue - superficial fascia, adjective, fascial.

fasciculus
diminutive of Latin fascis = bundle, hence, a bundle of nerve or muscle fibres.

fastigius
Latin fastigium = summit, hence the peak of the 4th ventricle, adjective - fastigial.

fauces
Latin = throat, adjective - faucial.

femur
Latin = thigh, adjective - femoral.

fenestra
Latin = window.

fetus
the developing mammal in utero; in Man, after the 2nd month in utero, adjective - foetal or fetal.

fibre
Latin fibra = a fibre, adjective, Latin fibrosus = fibrous.

fibril
diminutive of Latin fibra = a fibre.

fibula
Latin = brooch, which the tibia and fibula resemble, the fibula representing the movable pin, adjective - fibular.

filament
Latin filamentum = a delicate fibre, adjective - filamentous.

filum
Latin = a thread. Filum terminale - a thread of pia continuous with the lower end of the spinal cord.

fimbria
Latin = a fringe, hence, fimbria hippocampi, a scalloped band of fibres alongside the hippocampus.

fissure
Latin = a cleft.

fixator
Latin fixus = fixed, hence, a muscle which fixes a part.

flaccid
adjective, Latin flaccidus = weak or slack.

flavum
adjective, Latin flavus = yellow.

flex
Latin flexum = bent, hence, flexor, a muscle which bends a part of the body, and flexion = the act of flexing.

flexure
Latin flexura = a bending.

flocculus
diminutive of Latin floccus, a tuft. Hence resembling a picture of a little cloud, with a woolly top and a flat base, as in flocculus cerebelli.

foetus
the developing mammal in utero; in Man, after the 2nd month in utero, adjective - foetal or fetal.

folia
plural of Latin folium = leaf.

follicle
Latin folliculus = a little bag, adjective - follicular.

fontanelle
French diminutive of Latin fons = fountain, associated with the palpable pulsation of the brain in the anterior fontanelle of an infant.

foramen
Latin = hole.

forceps
Latin = tongs.

forearm
the upper limb between the elbow and the wrist.

fornix
Latin = arch (hence fornication, because the Roman prostitutes plied their profession beneath the arches of the bridges over the river Tiber).

fossa
Latin = a ditch or trench, hence a concavity in bone, or an organ, or on a lining surface.

fovea
Latin = a pit (usually smaller than a fossa).

foveola
diminutive of fovea.

frenulum
diminutive of frenum.

frenum
Latin = bridle or curb.

frontal
adjective, Latin frontis = of the forehead, or coronal.

fundiform
adjective, Latin fundus = bottom or base (cf. fundamental), hence, sling-shaped.

fundus
Latin = bottom or base. (But note that the fundus of the stomach and uterus are at the top, and the fundus of the eye and of the bladder are posterior!).

funiculus
diminutive of Latin funis = cord (used usually for bundles of nerve fibres).

fusiform
adjective, Latin fusus = spindle, hence, spindle-shaped.

galea
Latin = helmet, hence, galea aponeurotica - the aponeurosis of occipitofrontalis muscle.

galli
genetive (possessive case) of Latin = cock, hence, crista galli, the cock's comb.

gallus
Latin = cock, hence, crista galli, the cock's comb.

gamma
the 3rd letter of the Greek alphabet, typically used in a naming sequence - alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc.

ganglion
Greek = swelling, referring to a peripheral collection of nerve cells, adjective - ganglionic.

gastric
Greek gaster = belly or stomach.

gastro
Greek gaster = belly or stomach.

gastrocnemius
Greek gaster = belly, and kneme = leg, hence, the bulging muscle of the calf.

gelatinosa
Latin gelatus = frozen.

gemellus
Latin diminutive of geminus = twin.

genial
adjective, Greek geneion = chin.

geniculate
Latin geniculare = to flex the knee, hence, a bent knee.

geniculum
Latin geniculare = to flex the knee, hence, a bent knee.

genital
adjective, Latin genitalis = reproductive, hence, genitalia, the sexual organs.

genu
Latin = knee.

gingiva
Latin = gum (of tooth).

girdle
a ring of bones which may be complete or incomplete.

glabella
diminutive of Latin glaber = bald, hence a smooth bony prominence between the eyebrows.

gladiolus
diminutive of Latin gladius = a sword, hence, hance a small sword, term applied to the body of the sternum.

gland
Latin glans = an acorn, adjective - glandular; a secreting organ.

glandula
diminutive of Latin glans = acorn.

glans
Latin = acorn.

glenoid
adjective, Greek glene = socket, and eidos = shape or form.

glia
Greek = glue, hence, an adhesive connective tissue.

globus
Latin = a globe.

glomerulus
Latin glomerare = to roll up, from glomus = a ball of thread (cf. conglomeration).

glossal
adjective, Greek glossa = tongue.

glottic
adjective, Greek = larynx.

glottis
Greek = larynx, hence, the boundaries of rima glottidis.

gluteal
adjective, Greek gloutos = rump or buttock.

gluteus
Greek gluteos = rump or buttock. One of 3 muscles of the buttock, adjective - gluteal.

gonad
Greek = reproduction, hence a gland producing gametes - ovary or testis, adjective - gonadal.

gracile
adjective, Latin gracilis = slender.

gracilis
adjective, Latin = slender.

granulation
diminutive of Latin granum = a grain.

gravid
adjective, Latin gravida = pregnant.

griseum
adjective, Latin griseus = bluish or pearly grey.

gubernaculum
Latin something which governs or directs, like a rudder (cf. gubernatorial).

gustatory
adjective, Latin gustatio = taste, hence, pertaining to the sense of taste.

gyrus
Greek gyros = circle, hence a coil of brain cortex.

habenula
diminutive of Latin habena = rein.

haemorrhoid
Greek haima = blood, and rhoia = to flow, hence likely to bleed.

hallux
Latin hallex = great toe (hallucis = of the great toe).

hamate
adjective, Latin hamus = a hook, hence, hooked.