Ch. 5 Medical Terminology Vocabulary Flashcards
Abduction
Motion of a limb away from the midline.
Adduction
Motion of a limb toward the midline.
Anterior
The front surface of the body; the side facing you in the standard anatomic position.
Apex (plural: apices)
The pointed extremity of a conical structure.
Bilateral
A body part of condition that appears on both sides of the midline.
Combining vowel
The vowel used to combine two word roots or a word root and suffix.
Deep
Farther inside the body and away from the skin.
Distal
Farther from the trunk or nearer to the free end of the extremity.
Dorsal
The posterior surface of the body; including the back of the hand.
Extension
The straightening of a joint.
Flexion
The bending of a joint.
Fowler position
An inclined position in which the head of the bed is raised.
Inferior
Below a body part of nearer to the feet.
Lateral
Parts of the body that lie farther from the midline; also called the outer structures.
Medial
Parts of the body that lie closer to the midline; also called the inner structures.
Palmar
The forward facing part of the hand in the anatomic position.
Plantar
The bottom surface of the foot.
Posterior
The back surface of the body; the side away from you in the standard anatomic position.
Prefix
The part of a term that appears before a word root, changing the meaning of the term.
Prone
Lying face down.
Quadrants
Describes the sections of the abdominal cavity, in which two imaginary lines intersect at the umbilicus, deviding the abdomen into four equal areas.
Suffix
The part of a term that comes after the word root, at the end of the term.
Superficial
Closer to or on the skin.
Ventral
The anterior surface of the body.
Word root
The main part of a term that contains the primary meaning.
