Anatomical terms of location
Anterior and posterior
- Anterior: nearer to the front of the body
- Posterior: nearer to the back of the body
Medial and lateral
- Medial: nearer to the midline
- Lateral: further from the midline
Superior/cranial and inferior/caudal
- Superior/cranial: nearer to the top of the head
- Inferior/caudal: nearer to the soles of the feet
Proximal and distal
- Proximal: nearer to the attachment of the limb from the body
- Distal: further from the attachment of the limb to the body
Superficial and deep
- Superficial: nearer to the surface of the body
- Deep: further from the surface of the body
External or internal
- External: further from the centre of body/organ
- Internal: nearer to the centre of the body/organ
Major and minor
- Relatively larger and smaller structures with the same names
Terms of laterality
- Unilateral: structure normally found on one side of body
- Bilateral: normally paired structures; a right and a left
- Midline: single structure located at/near midline
- Ipsilateral: structure lies on the same side of the body as the other structure/location it is being compared to
- Contralateral: structure lies on the opposite side of the body as the other structure/location it is being compared to
Terms of movement
- Flexion: decreasing the angle between the bones at a joint
- Extension: increasing the angle between the bones at a joint
- Abduction: movement away from the median plane
- Adduction: movement towards the median plane
- Internal (medial) rotation: anterior surface of a limb rotates towards the median plane
- External (lateral) rotation: anterior surface of a limb rotates away from the median plane
- Circumduction: circular movement at a joint
Specific terms of movement
Ankle
- Dorsiflexion: dorsal surface of the foot moves superiorly
- Plantar flexion: plantar surface of the foot moves inferiorly
Foot
- Eversion: sole of the foot rotates away from the median plane such that the sole faces laterally
- Inversion: sole of the foot rotates towards the median plane so that the sole faces medially
Forearm
- Pronation: anterior surface of the forearm rotates such that the palm of the hand faces posteriorly (internal rotation)
- Supination: forearm rotates from the pronated position back into the anatomical position
- Semi-prone: the position of the hand and forearm halfway between the supine and prone positions
Other
- Lateral flexion: movement of spine to side (right or left)
- Rotation of trunk and neck
- Elevation (superior movement) and depression (inferior movement) of the shoulders
- Protraction (anterior movement) and retraction (posterior movement) of the jaw/shoulders
Anatomical planes
- Sagittal plane: a vertical line which divides the body into a left section and a right section
- Coronal plane: a vertical line which divides the body into a front (anterior) section and back (posterior) section
- Transverse plane: a horizontal line which divides the body into an upper (superior) section and a lower (inferior) section
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