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1.5: Anatomical Adjectives for Body Locations

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    Anatomical Adjectives for Body Locations

    Like all areas of science, there is a lot of jargon associated with anatomy. Oftentimes the terms used in anatomy differ from what we would name things in everyday conversation. Most of the terms below also appear when studying structures in the various organ systems. For example, there is a frontal bone in the skull, there are axillary veins and axillary arteries in the cardiovascular system, and some pectoral muscles are called pectoralis major and pectoralis minor.

    Anatomical Adjectives of the Head and Neck

    Anatomical Adjective Common Name
    cephalic head
    cranial skull
    facial face
    frontal forehead
    orbital / ocular eye
    nasal nose
    buccal cheek
    oral mouth
    glossal tongue
    mental chin
    otic ear
    cervical neck

    Anatomical Adjectives of the Trunk

    Anatomical Adjective Common Name
    trunk torso
    thoracic / thorax upper torso
    pectoral / mammary chest / breast
    sternal breastbone (center chest)
    clavicular collarbone
    acromial shoulder
    abdominal belly
    inguinal fold between trunk and hip
    pelvic lower torso (below belly)
    pubic lowest abdominal region
    perineal between genitals and anus
    genital sexual organs
    coxal hip
    vertebral spine
    dorsal back
    scapular shoulder blade
    lumbar lower back
    sacral extreme lower back
    gluteal buttocks

    Anatomical Adjectives of the Upper Limb

    Anatomical Adjective Common Name
    axillary armpit
    brachial shoulder to elbow
    olecranal elbow (posterior)
    antecubital front of the elbow
    antebrachial forearm
    carpal wrist
    manual hand
    digital finger / toe
    palmar palm of the hand
    pollex thumb

    Anatomical Adjectives of the Lower Limb

    Anatomical Adjective Common Name
    femoral thigh
    popliteal back of knee
    patellar kneecap
    crural shin
    sural calf
    calcaneal heel
    tarsal ankle
    pedal foot
    digital toe / finger
    hallux big toe

    Human figure showing the locations of the anatomical adjectives.

    This illustration shows an anterior and posterior view of the human body. The cranial region encompasses the upper part of the head while the facial region encompasses the lower half of the head beginning below the ears. The eyes are referred to as the ocular region. The cheeks are referred to as the buccal region. The ears are referred to as the auricle or otic region. The nose is referred to as the nasal region. The chin is referred to as the mental region. The neck is referred to as the cervical region. The trunk of the body contains, from superior to inferior, the thoracic region encompassing the chest, the mammary region encompassing each breast, the abdominal region encompassing the stomach area, the coxal region encompassing the belt line, and the pubic region encompassing the area above the genitals. The umbilicus, or naval, is located at the center of the abdomen. The pelvis and legs contain, from superior to inferior, the inguinal or groin region between the legs and the genitals, the pubic region surrounding the genitals, the femoral region encompassing the thighs, the patellar region encompassing the knee, the crural region encompassing the lower leg, the tarsal region encompassing the ankle, the pedal region encompassing the foot and the digital/phalangeal region encompassing the toes. The great toe is referred to as the hallux. The regions of the upper limbs, from superior to inferior, are the axillary region encompassing the armpit, the brachial region encompassing the upper arm, the antecubital region encompassing the front of the elbow, the antebrachial region encompassing the forearm, the carpal region encompassing the wrist, the palmar region encompassing the palm, and the digital/phalangeal region encompassing the fingers. The thumb is referred to as the pollux. The posterior view contains, from superior to inferior, the cervical region encompassing the neck, the dorsal region encompassing the upper back and the lumbar region encompassing the lower back. The regions of the back of the arms, from superior to inferior, include the cervical region encompassing the neck, acromial region encompassing the shoulder, the brachial region encompassing the upper arm, the olecranal region encompassing the back of the elbow, the antebrachial region encompasses the back of the arm, and the manual region encompassing the palm of the hand. The posterior regions of the legs, from superior to inferior, include the gluteal region encompassing the buttocks, the femoral region encompassing the thigh, the popliteus region encompassing the back of the knee, the sural region encompassing the back of the lower leg, and the plantar region encompassing the sole of the foot. Some regions are combined into larger regions. These include the trunk, which is a combination of the thoracic, mammary, abdominal, naval, and coxal regions. The cephalic region is a combination of all of the head regions. The upper limb region is a combination of all of the arm regions. The lower limb region is a combination of all of the leg regions.

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    This page titled 1.5: Anatomical Adjectives for Body Locations is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Rosanna Hartline.

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