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

rostrum
Latin beak, which decorated the Roman orator's platform; hence, a platform or beak-like structure; adjective - rostral.

rotate
Latin rota = wheel; hence, to turn, and rotation, the act of turning.

rotundum
Latin rotnudus = round.

rubro
prefix, Latin rubrum = red.

ruga
Latin = a wrinkle.

rugose
adjective, Latin ruga = a wrinkle, hence, wrinkled.

sac
Latin saccus = a sack.

saccule
Latin sacculus, diminutive of saccus.

sacrum
Latin sacer = sacred (probably considered so because of its size).

sagittal
adjective, Latin sagitta = arrow, because the sagittal suture is notched posteriorly, like an arrow, by the lambdoid sutures.

salivary
adjective, Latin saliva = spit.

salpinx
Greek = trumpet; hence, the uterine or auditory tube, each of which is trumpet-shaped.

saphenous
adjective, Greek saphenes = obviously visible. The saphenous veins become very apparent when varicose.

sartorius
Latin = tailor; hence, sartorius muscles, which produce the posture in which tailors once worked, squatting on the floor.

scala
Latin = stairs; hence the parallel spiral passages which wind up to, or down from, the cupula of the bony cochlea.

scalene
adjective, Greek skalenos = uneven, hence a triangle with unequal sides, an apt description of the shape of scalenus anterior and scalenus medius muscles.

scalenus
adjective, Greek skalenos = uneven, hence a triangle with unequal sides, an apt description of the shape of scalenus anterior and scalenus medius muscles.

scaphoid
adjective, Greek skaphe = skiff, and eidos = shape or form; hence the carpal which is hollowed out on its distal surface for the head of the capitate; also the fossa occupied by tensor veli palatini muscle.

scapula
Greek skapto = I dig, because of the resemblance to a spade.

sciatic
adjective, Greek ischion = hip-joint. Ischiadikos meant pertaining to the ischium or hip - later changed to sciatic. (The ischium earns its name because it forms > 2/5 of the acetabulum, whereas the ilium contributes < 2/5, and the pubis only 1/5). The sciatic nerve lies on the ischium.

sclera
Greek skleros = hard; hence the tough, outer layer of the eyeball; adjective - scleral.

sclerotome
Greek skleros = hard, and tome = a cutting.

scoliosis
Greek skolios = crooked or curve, and -osis = condition, hence, the lateral curvature of the spine.

scrotum
possibly derived from Latin scorteus = leather; adjective - scrotal.

secrete
Latin secretus = separated; hence, to produce a chemical substance by glandular activity - adjective, secretory; noun, secretion.

sella
Latin = saddle; adjective - sellar, sella turcica = Turkish saddle.

semen
Latin = seed; adjective - seminal (seminal vesicle).

semilunaris
adjective, Latin semi = half, and luna = moon; hence, having a half-moon shape.

semimembranosus
adjective, Latin semi = half, and membrana = membrane; hence, the hamstring muscle of which the upper half is membranous.

seminiferous
Latin semen = seed and ferre = to carry, to bear; hence, the sperm-producing tubules in the testes.

semitendinosus
adjective, Latin semi = half, and tendo = I stretch; hence, the hamstring muscle of which the lower half is tendinous.

septum
Latin saeptum = fenced in; hence, a dividing fence or partition.

serous
Latin = like serum.

serratus
adjective, Latin = notched like the edge of a saw (serrate).

sesamoid
adjective, Greek sesamodes, eidos = shape or form; like grains of sesame, hence, small bone in tendon at site of friction.

sialogram
Greek sialon = saliva, and gramma = a diagram; hence, a radiograph of a salivary duct.

sigmoid
adjective, Greek sigma, the form used at the end of a word having an S-shape; hence, S-shaped.

sinister
adjective, Latin = left-sided.

sinus
Latin = a hollow or space which may contain air, venous or arterial blood, lymph or serous fluid; adjective, sinusoid.

sole
the lower surface of the foot - see soleus.

soleus
adjective, Latin solea = flatfish or sandal; hence soleus muscle which does not enter the sole of the foot, but resembles the fish.

solitarius
Latin = solitary, alone.

soma
Greek = the body.

somatic
adjective, Greek soma = the body; hence, pertaining to the body frame but not to its viscera.

somite
Greek soma = body, hence an embryonic body segment.

spasm
Greek spasmos = an involuntary contraction of a muscle; adjective - spastic, or spasmodic.

sperma
Greek = seed or semen, adjective, spermatic.

sphenoid
adjective, Greek sphen = wedge, and eidos = shape or form; hence the unpaired bone which is wedged into the base of the skull between the unpaired frontal and occipital.

sphincter
Greek sphinkter = a tight binder; hence, a circular muscle which closes an orifice; adjective - sphincteric.

spine
Latin spina = a thorn; hence, a sharp process, or a lay term for the vertebral column; adjective, spinous, spinal.

splanchnic
adjective, Greek splanchnon = a viscus or internal organ; hence pertaining to viscera.

spleen
Latin splen = the spleen; hence; adjective - splenic (Latin - lien).

splenium
Greek splenion = a bandage. The splenium of corpus callosum resembles a partly rolled bandage.

splenius
Greek splenion = a bandage. Hence, splenius capitis muscle, with its finely-woven fibres and its quarter-spiral twist from a coronal to a sagittal plane.

spongiosum
adjective, Greek spongia = a sponge.

squama
Latin = a scale (as of fish or reptile); adjective - squamous.

squamous
adjective, Latin squama = a scale (as of fish or reptile), hence scale-like.

stapes
Latin = stirrup; adjective - stapedial, stapedius.

stellate
adjective, Latin stella = star.

stereocilia
Greek stereos = solid, and cilium = eyelash, hence non-motile microvilli.

sternebra
Greek sternon = chest or breast, and -bra = from vertebra, hence the segments of the sternum that fuse in later life.

sternum
Greek sternon = chest or breast; adjective, sternal.

stoma
Greek = a mouth.

stomach
Greek stomachos = gullet or oesophagus, later applied to the wider part of the digestive tract just below the diaphragm; adjective - gastric.

strabismus
Greek strabismos = squinting; hence, inability to focus both eyes on a given point.

stratum
Latin = a covering sheet, or layer.

stria
Latin = furrow, applied to a streak or stripe.

striatum
adjective, Latin striatus = furrowed; hence, corpus striatum, the caudate and lentiform nuclei connected by grey strands which traverse the internal capsule, giving the strands a striated appearance.

stroma
Greek = bed or mattress, deep to the covers; hence, the supporting framework of an organ, as distinct from its special parenchyma.

styloid
adjective, Greek stylos = an instrument for writing, and eidos = shape or form; hence a pen- or pencil-like structure.

subclavian
Latin sub = under or below, and clavis = a key, hence under the clavicle.

subiculum
diminutive of Latin subix = a support.

sublimis
Latin = superficial.

substantia
Latin = a substance.

succus
Latin = juice (succus entericus, the secretion of the small intestine).

sudomotor
Latin sudor = sweat, and movere = to move, hence stimulating the sweat glands.

sulcus
Latin = a groove.

superciliary
adjective, Latin super = above, and cilia = eyelid; hence, pertaining to the eyebrow.

superficial
adjective, Latin super = above, and facies = surface; hence, nearer the surface.

superior
adjective, comparative of Latin superus = above.

supination
the act of turning the back of the hand to face posteriorly; verb - supinate.

supine
adjective, Latin supinus, recumbent on the back. Hence, also, the position of the hand with the dorsum facing posteriorly.

supra
Latin prefix = superior to.

suprarenal
Latin supra = above, over, superior to, and ren = the kidney.

sural
adjective, Latin sura = the calf.

sustentaculum
Latin = a support, which sustains; sustentaculum tali - the ledge on the calcaneus supporting part of the talus.

suture
Latin sutura = a seam; the fibrous joints between cranial bones.

sympathetic
Greek syn = with, and pathos = feeling; hence, the peripheral part of the autonomic nervous system which arises in the thoracolumbar region of the spinal cord and communicates with other nerves.

symphysis
Greek syn = with, and physis = growth; hence a joint where union between the bones is by fibrocartilage - used for median joints. (Symphysis of the mandible is exceptional, the 2 halves fusing before the age of 2).

synapse
Greek syn = with, and aptein = to join; hence, the zone through which an impulse passes from one neuron to another.

synchondrosis
Greek syn = with, and chondros = cartilage; hence, the union of 2 bones by cartilage.

syncytium
Greek syn = with, and kytos = cell, hence a multinucleate mass of protoplasm, formed by the merging of cells.

syndesmosis
Greek syn = with, and desmos = a band; hence, the union of 2 bones by fibrous tissue.

syndrome
Greek syn = with, and dromos = running; hence, a group of signs and symptoms which is characteristic of a certain pathology.

synergist
Greek syn = with, and ergon = work; hence a muscle which cooperates with others in producing a given movement.

synovia
Greek syn = with, and ovum = egg; hence the fluid in freely movable joints resembling egg-white; adjective, synovial.

synovial
adjective, Greek syn = with, and ovum = egg; hence pertaining to the fluid in freely movable joints resembling egg-white.

systole
Greek = contraction; hence the contraction of cardiac muscle.

taenia
Latin = a tape or ribbon.

talus
Latin = ankle-bone; hence, the tortoise-shaped tarsal of the talocrural (ankle) joint.