Anatomy & Physiology Vocabulary: 100 Key English Terms
Anatomy and physiology textbooks, atlases, lectures and exam questions are full of English terms built on Latin and Greek, and the same words follow students onto the ward, into radiology reports and into research papers. This glossary explains the core vocabulary of body structure and function, from directional terms and bones to organs, cells and body processes, with Turkish equivalents and examples from real study and clinical settings. It also shows where English usage differs from the Latin names Turkish students learn in class.
100 terms
9 topics
50 core terms
200 example sentences
Read, understand, keep going
No account needed. Read the meaning, see where the term is used, then study the examples. Click any word in the lesson for help. You can also select a word and press Alt + Enter.
Body Regions and Directional Terms
anatomy
noun
Meaning
The study of the structure of the body and how its parts are arranged and connected. It also means the structure itself, as in 'the anatomy of the knee'.
Where you use it
Used for the subject (an anatomy lecture, an anatomy exam) and for the structure of one part (the anatomy of the hand). Gross anatomy studies structures you can see with the eye, while histology studies tissues under the microscope. The adjective is anatomical.
Examples
We have our first anatomy practical in the dissection room on Monday.
Before the operation, the surgeon reviewed the patient's vascular anatomy on the CT scan.
Usage note
'Gross' here means 'large, visible to the eye', not 'disgusting'. Gross anatomy is simply anatomy without a microscope.
The standard reference posture used to describe the body: standing upright, facing forward, arms at the sides with the palms facing forward, and feet together.
Where you use it
All directional terms (anterior, medial, proximal and so on) assume the body is in the anatomical position, even when the patient is actually lying down. Lecturers often remind students to 'describe it in the anatomical position'.
Examples
In the anatomical position, the thumb is on the lateral side of the hand.
Always picture the patient in the anatomical position before you use terms like medial or lateral.
Usage note
Because the palms face forward in this position, the radius (thumb side) is lateral to the ulna, even if your own hands are turned another way.
Common phrases
in the anatomical position · standard anatomical position · describe in the anatomical position
At or toward the front of the body. For example, the sternum (breastbone) is anterior to the heart.
Where you use it
Used in textbooks, imaging reports and clinical notes, often with 'to': X is anterior to Y. The opposite is posterior. In humans, ventral means the same as anterior. The adverb is anteriorly.
Examples
The trachea lies anterior to the esophagus.
The X-ray shows a small fracture on the anterior surface of the tibia.
At or toward the back of the body. For example, the vertebral column is posterior to the heart.
Where you use it
The opposite of anterior, used in the same patterns: posterior to, posterior wall, posterior view. In humans, dorsal usually means the same thing. Clinicians also talk about the posterior compartment of the leg or a posterior approach in surgery.
Examples
The kidneys lie against the posterior abdominal wall.
On this posterior view of the skeleton, you can clearly see both shoulder blades.
Usage note
In informal English, 'posterior' is also a polite joke word for someone's bottom, so it can raise a smile outside class.
Toward the head or the upper part of a structure; above. For example, the head is superior to the shoulders.
Where you use it
Used with 'to' to compare positions: the heart is superior to the diaphragm. It also appears in the names of structures, such as the superior vena cava. Cranial is a close synonym. In anatomy it has nothing to do with being better.
Examples
The heart lies superior to the diaphragm.
The superior vena cava returns blood from the head and arms to the heart.
Usage note
In general English 'superior' means 'better'. In anatomy it only means 'higher up', so the superior lobe of a lung is simply the upper lobe.
Common phrases
superior to · superior border · superior vena cava · superior aspect · superiorly
Away from the head or toward the lower part of a structure; below. For example, the stomach is inferior to the diaphragm.
Where you use it
The opposite of superior. It appears in comparisons (the knee is inferior to the hip) and in names such as the inferior vena cava. Caudal is a close synonym. As with superior, it never means 'worse' in anatomy.
Examples
The stomach lies just inferior to the diaphragm on the left side.
The inferior border of the liver can sometimes be felt just below the ribs.
Closer to the midline, the imaginary vertical line that divides the body into left and right halves. For example, the nose is medial to the eyes.
Where you use it
Used with 'to' and in the names of structures, such as the medial malleolus at the ankle or the medial meniscus in the knee. The opposite is lateral. Turkish clinicians usually keep the word as 'medial'.
Examples
The big toe is on the medial side of the foot.
She tore her medial meniscus while playing football.
Usage note
Don't confuse medial (closer to the midline) with median (exactly on the midline) or with medical.
Common phrases
medial to · medial side · medial border · medial meniscus · medially
Farther from the midline of the body; toward the side. For example, the ears are lateral to the eyes.
Where you use it
The opposite of medial. It also describes imaging views (a lateral X-ray is taken from the side) and patient positions (lying in the lateral position). Turkish speakers usually say 'lateral' too.
Examples
In the anatomical position, the thumb is lateral to the little finger.
We'll need a lateral X-ray of the knee as well as the front view.
Usage note
Bilateral means on both sides (bilateral knee pain) and unilateral means on one side only.
Common phrases
lateral to · lateral side · lateral view · lateral X-ray · laterally
Closer to the point where a limb joins the trunk, or closer to the beginning of a structure. For example, the elbow is proximal to the wrist.
Where you use it
Mainly used for the limbs (proximal femur, proximal phalanx), but also for tubes such as the gut or blood vessels, where it means nearer the start. The opposite is distal. Very common in fracture descriptions and surgical notes.
Examples
The knee is proximal to the ankle.
The X-ray showed a fracture of the proximal humerus.
Common phrases
proximal to · proximal end · proximal femur · proximal phalanx · proximally
Farther from the point where a limb joins the trunk, or farther from the beginning of a structure. For example, the fingers are distal to the wrist.
Where you use it
The opposite of proximal. Doctors check distal pulses in the feet, describe distal radius fractures at the wrist and talk about the distal colon. Distal is about distance along a limb or tube, not about being on the outside.
Examples
Distal pulses were present in both feet.
A distal radius fracture is common after a fall on an outstretched hand.
Usage note
Turkish learners sometimes use distal to mean 'outer'. The outer side is lateral; distal only means farther along the limb or tube.
Common phrases
distal to · distal end · distal pulses · distal radius · distally
The part of the trunk between the chest and the pelvis. It contains the stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys and other organs, and is separated from the chest by the diaphragm.
Where you use it
For description, the abdomen is divided into four quadrants (right upper, left lower and so on) or into nine regions such as the epigastric and umbilical regions. The adjective abdominal is very common: abdominal pain, abdominal wall, abdominal cavity.
Examples
The liver lies in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen.
The abdominal cavity is lined by a thin membrane called the peritoneum.
Usage note
You will hear both AB-do-men and ab-DOH-men. Patients usually say belly or tummy instead.
The chest: the part of the trunk between the neck and the abdomen. It is enclosed by the ribs, sternum and thoracic vertebrae and contains the heart and lungs.
Where you use it
A formal anatomy word; in clinical talk doctors often just say chest. The adjective thoracic appears in many terms: thoracic cavity, thoracic spine, thoracic surgery. The plural is thoraces or thoraxes, but it is rarely needed.
Examples
The thorax contains the heart, the lungs and the great vessels.
There are twelve thoracic vertebrae, one for each pair of ribs.
Closer to the surface of the body. For example, the skin is superficial to the muscles, and superficial veins can often be seen under the skin.
Where you use it
Paired with deep. Used with 'to' (superficial to the muscle) and before nouns: superficial veins, a superficial wound, a superficial burn. In clinical language it means the damage does not go far below the surface.
Examples
The great saphenous vein is a superficial vein that runs along the inner side of the leg.
The cut was superficial and did not reach the tendon.
Usage note
In everyday English superficial can also describe a shallow person ('a superficial person'). In anatomy it only describes depth.
Farther from the surface of the body, toward the inside. For example, the bones of the arm are deep to the muscles that cover them.
Where you use it
The opposite of superficial, used with 'to': deep to the fascia. It appears in names such as deep veins and deep tendon reflexes. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the leg.
Examples
The deep veins of the leg run between the muscles, not under the skin.
In the dissection, cut through the fascia to see the structures that lie deep to it.
Common phrases
deep to · deep vein · deep fascia · deep tendon reflex
An imaginary vertical plane that divides the body into left and right parts. The midsagittal (median) plane runs exactly down the middle and creates equal halves.
Where you use it
One of the three main body planes, together with the coronal (frontal) plane and the transverse plane. The terms are used for sections in anatomy atlases and for slices in MRI and CT: a sagittal view, a sagittal section.
Examples
A cut along the midsagittal plane separates the right half of the brain from the left.
MRI images in the sagittal plane show the whole length of the spinal cord.
Usage note
The coronal (frontal) plane divides the body into front and back parts. Don't mix it up with the sagittal plane.
On or toward the back of the body. In the hand and foot it also means the top surface: the back of the hand and the upper surface of the foot are dorsal.
Where you use it
In humans it usually means the same as posterior, and its opposite is ventral (meaning anterior). It is common in names such as dorsal root, dorsal horn and the dorsalis pedis pulse, which is felt on the top of the foot.
Examples
Sensory fibers enter the spinal cord through the dorsal roots.
The veins on the dorsal surface of the hand are often used for cannulas.
Usage note
The palm and the sole are not dorsal; they are called the palmar and plantar surfaces.
Lying flat on the back with the face upward. The opposite position, lying face down, is called prone.
Where you use it
Used for patient positioning in examinations, imaging and surgery: 'the patient was placed supine'. Related forearm terms are supination (turning the palm up) and pronation (turning the palm down).
Examples
Examine the abdomen with the patient lying supine and relaxed.
The MRI scan is done with the patient in the supine position.
Usage note
Memory tip: when you are supine, you are lying on your spine.
Common phrases
lying supine · supine position · placed supine · prone position · supination
An arm or a leg. In anatomy the arm is called the upper limb (shoulder to hand) and the leg is called the lower limb (hip to foot).
Where you use it
Anatomy textbooks prefer upper limb and lower limb, because in strict anatomy 'arm' means only the part between the shoulder and elbow, and 'leg' only the part between the knee and ankle. Clinicians talk about limb weakness, limb pain and limb ischemia.
Examples
The brachial plexus supplies the nerves of the upper limb.
An imaginary horizontal plane that divides the body into upper (superior) and lower (inferior) parts. Slices in this plane are called cross-sections.
Where you use it
Also called the horizontal or axial plane. CT scans are usually viewed as axial (transverse) slices seen from the patient's feet, so the patient's left side appears on the right of the screen.
Examples
A cut in the transverse plane through the upper abdomen shows the liver, stomach and kidneys together.
Most CT images are reviewed in the transverse plane.
The smallest living unit of the body. Each cell has a membrane and cytoplasm, most also have a nucleus, and groups of similar cells form tissues.
Where you use it
One of the most frequent words in physiology and histology. Cells are named by type (nerve cell, muscle cell, red blood cell) and described as dividing, differentiating or dying. The adjective is cellular.
Examples
Under the microscope, you can see that each cell has a dark-stained nucleus.
Skin cells are replaced constantly throughout life.
A group of similar cells, together with the material around them, that work together to do one job. The four basic types are epithelial, connective, muscle and nervous tissue.
Where you use it
Used in histology, pathology and surgery: tissue sample, soft tissue, scar tissue, tissue damage. The study of tissues is histology. Usually uncountable when it means the material, but countable for types: 'the four basic tissues'.
Examples
A small piece of tissue was sent to the lab for analysis.
Muscle tissue can contract, while connective tissue mainly supports and connects other structures.
Usage note
In everyday English a tissue is also a paper handkerchief.
A part of the body made of two or more tissues that work together to carry out a particular function, such as the heart, liver, stomach or skin.
Where you use it
Used in every area of medicine: vital organs, internal organs, organ failure, organ donation. Anatomy and surgery often separate hollow organs (stomach, bladder) from solid organs (liver, spleen).
Examples
The skin is actually the largest organ of the body.
The spleen is a solid organ, so it can bleed heavily after an injury.
Common phrases
vital organ · internal organ · solid organ · hollow organ · organ failure
A group of organs that work together to perform a major body function. The digestive system, for example, includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver and pancreas.
Where you use it
Textbooks are usually organized by organ system, and people normally just say 'system': the respiratory system, the nervous system. The levels of organization run from cell to tissue, organ, organ system and finally the whole organism.
Examples
This semester we're studying one organ system every two weeks.
The kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra form the urinary system, an organ system that removes waste from the blood.
Common phrases
respiratory system · digestive system · urinary system · levels of organization
Tissue made of tightly packed cells that covers the body's surfaces and lines its cavities, tubes and glands, such as the outer layer of the skin and the lining of the gut.
Where you use it
Histology classifies epithelium by cell shape (squamous, cuboidal, columnar) and by number of layers (simple or stratified). The adjective epithelial is very common: epithelial cells, epithelial tissue. The plural is epithelia.
Examples
The alveoli are lined by a very thin simple squamous epithelium.
Under the microscope, the epithelial layer of the skin is many cells thick.
Tissue that supports, connects and protects other tissues. Its cells are spread out in a matrix of fibers and ground substance; bone, cartilage, fat, tendons and blood are all types of it.
Where you use it
One of the four basic tissue types. Histology lectures focus on its extracellular matrix and fibers, especially collagen. Clinicians speak of connective tissue diseases, which can affect many organs at once.
Examples
Tendons and ligaments are made of dense connective tissue rich in collagen.
Blood is classed as a connective tissue because its cells sit in a fluid matrix, the plasma.
The thin, flexible layer that surrounds every cell and controls what enters and leaves it. It is made mainly of a double layer of phospholipids with proteins set into it.
Where you use it
Also called the plasma membrane. Physiology lectures describe it as selectively permeable and explain transport across it: diffusion, osmosis, channels and pumps such as the sodium–potassium pump.
Examples
Oxygen crosses the cell membrane easily by simple diffusion.
Proteins in the cell membrane act as channels for ions.
Common phrases
plasma membrane · across the cell membrane · selectively permeable · phospholipid bilayer · membrane protein
The control center of a cell, surrounded by its own membrane. It contains the DNA, which carries the instructions for making proteins and for cell division.
Where you use it
In histology, nuclei stain dark with hematoxylin, which helps to identify cell types. In neuroanatomy, a nucleus is also a cluster of nerve cell bodies inside the brain or brainstem, such as the caudate nucleus.
Examples
Mature red blood cells have no nucleus.
Skeletal muscle fibers contain many nuclei pushed to the edge of the cell.
A small structure inside the cell that uses oxygen to produce most of the cell's energy in the form of ATP. Cells that need a lot of energy, like muscle cells, have many of them.
Where you use it
Almost always used in the plural: mitochondria. Introductory classes call it the powerhouse of the cell. The Krebs cycle and most of cellular respiration take place there, and mitochondria have their own DNA.
Examples
Heart muscle cells are packed with mitochondria.
Each mitochondrion has an inner membrane folded into cristae.
Usage note
Singular mitochondrion, plural mitochondria. Turkish uses 'mitokondri' for both.
Common phrases
mitochondrial DNA · inner mitochondrial membrane · powerhouse of the cell
The framework of bones and cartilage that supports the body, protects the organs and allows movement. An adult skeleton usually has 206 bones.
Where you use it
Anatomy courses divide it into the axial skeleton (skull, vertebral column, ribs and sternum) and the appendicular skeleton (the limbs plus the shoulder and pelvic girdles). The adjective is skeletal.
Examples
The axial skeleton protects the brain, the spinal cord and the organs in the chest.
We used a plastic skeleton to practise naming the bones.
Common phrases
axial skeleton · appendicular skeleton · human skeleton · skeletal system
The hard, living tissue that forms the skeleton, and each organ made of it. Bones support the body, protect organs, store calcium and contain the marrow that makes blood cells.
Where you use it
Bones are classified as long, short, flat or irregular. Common phrases include bone marrow, bone density and a broken bone, although doctors say fracture. Related adjectives are bony and, in technical words, osseous or osteo-.
Examples
The femur is the longest bone in the body.
Red bone marrow in flat bones produces blood cells.
Common phrases
long bone · flat bone · bone marrow · bone density · broken bone
One of the roughly 33 small bones stacked to form the spine (vertebral column). Each has a body, an arch and an opening through which the spinal cord passes.
Where you use it
The plural is vertebrae. Vertebrae are named by region and number: C1–C7 (cervical), T1–T12 (thoracic), L1–L5 (lumbar), followed by the sacrum and coccyx. The adjective vertebral appears in vertebral column, vertebral body and vertebral artery.
Examples
The MRI shows a disc bulge between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae.
The first cervical vertebra, called the atlas, supports the skull.
Usage note
Singular vertebra, plural vertebrae (VUR-tuh-bree or VUR-tuh-bray). 'One vertebrae' is a common mistake.
A firm but flexible connective tissue with no blood vessels. It covers the ends of bones in joints, gives shape to the nose and ears, and connects the ribs to the sternum.
Where you use it
Histology covers three main types: hyaline cartilage, elastic cartilage and fibrocartilage. Clinically, people talk about worn or damaged cartilage in the knee. Because it has no blood supply, cartilage heals slowly. Usually uncountable.
Examples
Articular cartilage lets the ends of the bones glide smoothly over each other.
The outer ear is shaped by elastic cartilage, so it bends and springs back.
Usage note
Pronounced KAR-ti-lij; the last syllable is not 'laydge'.
The bony structure of the head that protects the brain and forms the face. It is made of many bones joined by immovable joints called sutures, plus the movable lower jaw (mandible).
Where you use it
Skull is both the everyday and the textbook word; cranium is more technical and sometimes means only the part around the brain. Clinicians talk about a skull fracture or a skull X-ray. The adjective cranial comes from cranium: cranial nerves, cranial cavity.
Examples
A baby's skull has soft spots called fontanelles, where the bones have not yet fused.
A CT scan ruled out a skull fracture after the fall.
Common phrases
skull fracture · base of the skull · skull X-ray · cranial cavity
The basin-shaped ring of bones at the base of the spine, formed by the two hip bones, the sacrum and the coccyx. It supports the trunk and protects the bladder, rectum and reproductive organs.
Where you use it
The word refers both to the bones and to that region of the body. The adjective is pelvic: pelvic floor, pelvic cavity, pelvic fracture. The female pelvis is wider than the male pelvis, which matters for childbirth.
Examples
The bladder sits at the front of the pelvis, just behind the pubic bone.
The pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and the bowel.
Usage note
The renal pelvis is a different structure: the funnel inside the kidney that collects urine. The plural of pelvis is pelves or pelvises.
The bony frame of the chest formed by 12 pairs of ribs, the sternum and the thoracic vertebrae. It protects the heart and lungs and moves during breathing.
Where you use it
Students learn the true ribs (1–7, attached directly to the sternum), the false ribs (8–12) and the floating ribs (11–12). The muscles between the ribs are the intercostal muscles. The technical adjective for ribs is costal.
Examples
The rib cage expands when you breathe in.
The liver and spleen are partly protected by the lower rib cage.
The thigh bone: the long bone between the hip and the knee. It is the longest and strongest bone in the human body.
Where you use it
Students learn its head, neck, shaft and condyles. A fracture of the femoral neck is a common hip fracture in older people. The adjective is femoral: femoral artery, femoral nerve, femoral head. The plural is femurs or femora.
Examples
The head of the femur fits into the socket of the hip bone.
The X-ray showed a fracture of the neck of the femur.
Common phrases
head of the femur · neck of the femur · shaft of the femur · femoral artery
A place where two or more bones meet. Some joints, like the knee, move freely; others, like those between the bones of the skull, hardly move at all.
Where you use it
Used everywhere from anatomy lectures to physiotherapy: joint pain, joint capsule, the range of motion of a joint. Freely movable joints are called synovial joints. The technical word is articulation, and the adjective is articular.
Examples
The knee is the largest synovial joint in the body.
She has stiffness in several joints of her hands every morning.
Common phrases
synovial joint · joint capsule · hip joint · joint pain · range of motion
A tissue or organ made of cells that can contract (shorten) to produce movement or force. The three types are skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle.
Where you use it
Muscles contract and relax; they can be strained, torn or weak. Many muscle names are Latin and are kept as they are in English, such as biceps brachii or gluteus maximus. The adjective is muscular.
Examples
The biceps muscle helps to bend the elbow.
Cardiac muscle contracts on its own, without conscious control.
Usage note
The c is silent: muscle sounds exactly like mussel, the shellfish.
A tough band of fibrous connective tissue that connects one bone to another and keeps a joint stable.
Where you use it
Common in orthopedics and sports medicine: a ligament can be sprained, torn or ruptured. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee is a well-known example. Turkish clinicians use both 'bağ' and 'ligament'.
Examples
He tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a basketball game.
Ankle sprains usually involve the ligaments on the lateral side of the ankle.
Usage note
Ligaments join bone to bone; tendons join muscle to bone. Mixing them up is a very common exam mistake.
A strong cord of fibrous tissue that attaches a muscle to a bone, so that when the muscle contracts it pulls on the bone.
Where you use it
The Achilles tendon at the back of the heel is the largest and best-known example. Tendons can become inflamed (tendinitis) or rupture. Doctors test reflexes by tapping a tendon with a reflex hammer.
Examples
The Achilles tendon connects the calf muscles to the heel bone.
Tapping the patellar tendon just below the kneecap should make the leg kick forward.
Usage note
In Turkish, tendons are sometimes called 'sinir' in everyday speech, but in English a nerve is a completely different structure.
The shortening or tightening of a muscle when its fibers are stimulated, producing movement or force. In the heart, contraction pushes blood out of the chambers.
Where you use it
The verb is contract and the opposite is relax. Physiology lectures explain contraction with the sliding filament theory (actin and myosin). In an isometric contraction the muscle creates tension without moving; in an isotonic contraction its length changes.
Examples
The release of calcium inside the muscle fiber triggers contraction.
At rest, each contraction of the left ventricle pushes about 70 milliliters of blood into the aorta.
Usage note
In obstetrics, contractions are the regular tightenings of the uterus during labor.
Common phrases
muscle contraction · isometric contraction · contract and relax · sliding filament theory
A bending movement that decreases the angle between two body parts, such as bending the elbow or the knee.
Where you use it
Used in anatomy, orthopedics and physiotherapy to describe movement and range of motion. The verb is flex, and the muscles that cause it are flexors. The opposite is extension. At the ankle there are special terms: dorsiflexion and plantar flexion.
Examples
Knee flexion was limited to 90 degrees after the injury.
Flexion of the elbow brings the hand toward the shoulder.
Common phrases
knee flexion · hip flexion · flexor muscles · plantar flexion · range of flexion
A straightening movement that increases the angle between two body parts, such as straightening the elbow or the knee. It is the opposite of flexion.
Where you use it
The verb is extend, and the muscles involved are extensors. Movement beyond the normal straight position is called hyperextension. Physiotherapists measure extension in degrees during a joint examination.
Examples
The triceps produces extension of the elbow.
She has full extension of the knee, but bending it still hurts.
Common phrases
knee extension · full extension · hyperextension · extensor muscles
Movement of a limb or body part away from the midline of the body, such as raising the arm out to the side.
Where you use it
Paired with adduction in anatomy and physiotherapy. The verb is abduct, and the muscles are abductors. For the fingers the reference line is the middle finger, so spreading the fingers apart is abduction.
Examples
Shoulder abduction above 90 degrees causes him pain.
The deltoid is the main muscle for abduction of the arm.
Usage note
In everyday English abduction means kidnapping. Say the 'ab-' clearly so it is not confused with adduction: 'A-B-duction' versus 'A-D-D-uction'.
Common phrases
shoulder abduction · hip abduction · abductor muscles · abduct the arm
Movement of a limb or body part toward the midline of the body, such as bringing a raised arm back down to the side.
Where you use it
The opposite of abduction. The verb is adduct, and the muscles are adductors, such as the adductor group in the inner thigh. A groin strain in sport is often an injury to these muscles.
Examples
The adductor muscles of the thigh produce adduction of the hip.
Squeezing a ball between the knees tests hip adduction strength.
Usage note
A simple memory trick: in adduction you 'add' the limb back to the body.
Common phrases
hip adduction · adductor muscles · adduct the arm · thumb adduction
Muscle attached to bones that moves the skeleton and is under voluntary (conscious) control. Under the microscope its long fibers look striped, so it is also called striated muscle.
Where you use it
Compared in lectures with cardiac muscle (striated but involuntary) and smooth muscle (found in the walls of organs and vessels, involuntary and not striated). Skeletal muscle makes up roughly 40 percent of body weight in adults.
Examples
Skeletal muscle is the only type of muscle you can control voluntarily.
Each skeletal muscle fiber is a single long cell with many nuclei.
The muscular organ in the chest that pumps blood around the body. It has four chambers: two atria that receive blood and two ventricles that pump it out.
Where you use it
In technical words the heart becomes cardiac or cardio- (cardiac muscle, cardiovascular system). Doctors listen to heart sounds and measure heart rate. The heart lies in the mediastinum, slightly to the left of the midline.
Examples
The left side of the heart pumps oxygenated blood to the body.
Can you hear the heart sounds clearly on the left side of the chest?
Common phrases
heart rate · heart sounds · heart valve · chambers of the heart
A blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart. Most arteries carry oxygen-rich blood; the pulmonary arteries are the exception, taking blood low in oxygen to the lungs.
Where you use it
Arteries have thick, elastic walls because the blood inside them is under high pressure. You feel a pulse over an artery, such as the radial artery at the wrist. The adjective is arterial, as in arterial blood gas.
Examples
The aorta is the largest artery in the body.
You can feel the pulse of the radial artery on the thumb side of the wrist.
Usage note
Remember the rule by direction, not by oxygen: Arteries carry blood Away from the heart.
A blood vessel that carries blood back toward the heart. Most veins carry blood that is low in oxygen; the pulmonary veins are the exception, bringing oxygen-rich blood from the lungs.
Where you use it
Veins have thinner walls than arteries, and many veins in the limbs have valves that stop blood flowing backward. Blood samples are usually taken from a vein in the arm. The adjective is venous, as in venous return.
Examples
The nurse took a blood sample from a vein in his forearm.
Valves in the leg veins help blood return to the heart against gravity.
One of the two spongy organs in the chest where oxygen passes from the air into the blood and carbon dioxide leaves it. The right lung has three lobes and the left lung has two.
Where you use it
Often used in the plural: the lungs. The technical adjective is pulmonary (pulmonary artery, pulmonary function tests), and pneumo- also appears in some words. Each lung is covered by a thin membrane called the pleura.
Examples
The left lung is slightly smaller because it makes room for the heart.
Listen to both lungs at the front and the back of the chest.
Common phrases
right lung · lung function · lung capacity · lobe of the lung · pulmonary
The smallest type of blood vessel, with a wall only one cell thick. Capillaries connect arteries to veins, and oxygen, nutrients and waste pass through their walls to and from the tissues.
Where you use it
Physiology lectures discuss capillary exchange and capillary beds. In a clinical exam, capillary refill time is checked by pressing on a fingernail and counting how quickly the color returns. The plural is capillaries.
Examples
In the lungs, gas exchange takes place across the walls of the capillaries around the alveoli.
Capillary refill time was less than two seconds.
Usage note
American English stresses the first syllable (CAP-i-lary); British English often stresses the second (ca-PIL-ary).
Common phrases
capillary bed · capillary wall · capillary exchange · capillary refill time
The force that circulating blood puts on the walls of the arteries. It is given as two numbers, systolic over diastolic, in millimeters of mercury (mmHg), for example 120/80.
Where you use it
Physiology explains how cardiac output and the resistance of the vessels determine it; on the ward you take or measure blood pressure, often written BP. High blood pressure is hypertension and low blood pressure is hypotension.
Examples
His blood pressure was 130 over 85 when he arrived.
Blood pressure falls when the arteries widen and rises when they narrow.
Usage note
The Turkish word 'tansiyon' is not 'tension' in English. Say blood pressure, or BP for short.
Common phrases
take blood pressure · high blood pressure · systolic blood pressure · diastolic blood pressure · blood pressure cuff
The process of taking in oxygen and getting rid of carbon dioxide. It covers breathing (ventilation), gas exchange in the lungs and tissues, and the use of oxygen inside cells (cellular respiration).
Where you use it
A formal word: patients and nurses usually say breathing. The adjective respiratory is used far more often: respiratory system, respiratory rate, respiratory tract. Biology classes use cellular respiration for energy production in the mitochondria.
Examples
The diaphragm is the main muscle of respiration.
Cellular respiration in the mitochondria produces most of the cell's ATP.
Common phrases
cellular respiration · muscles of respiration · respiratory rate · respiratory system
One of the two lower chambers of the heart that pump blood out: the right ventricle sends blood to the lungs and the left ventricle sends it to the rest of the body.
Where you use it
The left ventricle has the thickest wall because it pumps against the highest pressure. The same word is used for the four fluid-filled spaces in the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid. The adjective is ventricular.
Examples
The left ventricle pumps oxygenated blood into the aorta.
Cerebrospinal fluid is produced mainly in the ventricles of the brain.
Common phrases
left ventricle · right ventricle · ventricular wall · ventricles of the brain
One of the two upper chambers of the heart that receive blood: the right atrium from the veins of the body and the left atrium from the lungs. Each passes blood down to its ventricle.
Where you use it
The plural is atria. The heart's natural pacemaker, the sinoatrial (SA) node, lies in the wall of the right atrium. The adjective is atrial, as in atrial fibrillation and atrial septum.
Examples
Blood from the lungs enters the left atrium through the pulmonary veins.
The atria contract just before the ventricles.
Usage note
Turkish also uses 'kulakçık'. In English, 'auricle' now usually means the small ear-shaped pouch of the atrium, or the outer ear.
Common phrases
right atrium · left atrium · atrial wall · atrial fibrillation
The dome-shaped sheet of muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen. When it contracts it flattens and draws air into the lungs; it is the main muscle of breathing.
Where you use it
It is supplied by the phrenic nerve (C3, C4, C5), which students remember with the rhyme 'C3, 4, 5 keeps the diaphragm alive'. Structures such as the esophagus and the aorta pass through openings in it. The adjective is diaphragmatic.
Examples
During a deep breath in, the diaphragm moves down and the chest cavity gets bigger.
The esophagus passes through the diaphragm to reach the stomach.
Usage note
The g is silent: DYE-uh-fram.
Common phrases
dome of the diaphragm · phrenic nerve · diaphragmatic breathing · contraction of the diaphragm
A disc-shaped blood cell that carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues using the protein hemoglobin. Mature red blood cells have no nucleus and live for about 120 days.
Where you use it
Often shortened to RBC; the technical name is erythrocyte. Red blood cells are made in red bone marrow, and their count is part of a complete blood count. The other cells in blood are white blood cells (leukocytes) and platelets.
Examples
Red blood cells are made in the bone marrow.
Each red blood cell contains hundreds of millions of hemoglobin molecules.
Usage note
British spelling is haemoglobin. Erythrocyte is spelled the same in both.
Common phrases
red blood cell count · RBC · white blood cell · hemoglobin · erythrocyte
The sequence of events in one heartbeat: contraction (systole) and relaxation (diastole) of the atria and ventricles, with the heart valves opening and closing in turn.
Where you use it
A favorite exam topic, usually studied with a pressure–volume loop or a Wiggers diagram. At a heart rate of 75 beats per minute one cycle lasts about 0.8 seconds. The heart sounds S1 and S2 are produced by valves closing.
Examples
Draw and label the pressure changes in the left ventricle during the cardiac cycle.
At rest, diastole takes up about two-thirds of the cardiac cycle.
Common phrases
phases of the cardiac cycle · systole · diastole · Wiggers diagram
The windpipe: the tube that carries air from the larynx down into the chest, where it divides into the right and left main bronchi. C-shaped rings of cartilage keep it open.
Where you use it
Patients say windpipe. It is lined with ciliated epithelium that moves mucus upward. During a chest examination, clinicians check that the trachea is central (in the midline). The adjective is tracheal, as in tracheal tube.
Examples
The trachea divides into the two main bronchi at about the level of the sternal angle.
The trachea is central, and breath sounds are equal on both sides.
Usage note
Pronounced TRAY-kee-uh. The plural is tracheae or tracheas.
Common phrases
tracheal rings · tracheal tube · deviated trachea · bifurcation of the trachea
One of the millions of tiny air sacs at the ends of the airways in the lungs. Their thin walls are surrounded by capillaries, and this is where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged.
Where you use it
Usually used in the plural: alveoli. Lectures mention type I cells, which form the thin wall, and type II cells, which make surfactant to stop the alveoli collapsing. The adjective is alveolar, as in alveolar air.
Examples
Oxygen diffuses from the alveoli into the surrounding capillaries.
Each alveolus has an extremely thin wall, which makes gas exchange fast.
Usage note
Singular alveolus, plural alveoli (al-VEE-oh-lye). In dentistry the same word means the bony socket of a tooth.
Common phrases
alveoli · alveolar wall · alveolar air · surfactant
The movement of oxygen into the blood and carbon dioxide out of it by diffusion, across the walls of the alveoli and capillaries in the lungs, and between the blood and the tissues.
Where you use it
A key term in respiratory physiology. Gas exchange depends on the surface area, the thickness of the membrane and the difference in partial pressures. Lectures keep it separate from ventilation, which is the movement of air in and out.
Examples
In the lungs, gas exchange happens across a barrier less than one micrometer thick.
Gas exchange in the tissues moves oxygen from the blood into the cells.
Common phrases
pulmonary gas exchange · site of gas exchange · impaired gas exchange · partial pressure
A small, bean-shaped organ of the lymphatic system that filters lymph and contains immune cells. Groups of lymph nodes lie in the neck, armpits, groin, chest and abdomen.
Where you use it
Lymph nodes often swell during an infection, and patients may call them 'glands'. In cancer staging, doctors describe whether nearby lymph nodes are involved. Lymph flows through lymphatic vessels and finally returns to the veins at the base of the neck.
Examples
The doctor felt the lymph nodes in her neck and armpits.
Lymph from the breast drains mainly to the lymph nodes in the armpit.
Usage note
Turkish 'lenf bezi' is common, but in English lymph node is the correct modern term; 'lymph gland' sounds old-fashioned.
The J-shaped muscular bag between the esophagus and the small intestine. It stores food, mixes it with acid and enzymes, and passes it on slowly to the duodenum.
Where you use it
Technical words use gastr- or gastric: gastric acid, gastric juice, gastric emptying. In everyday English 'stomach' often means the whole belly ('stomach ache'), so it is worth checking exactly what a patient means.
Examples
The stomach lies mainly in the upper left part of the abdomen.
Cells in the stomach lining produce hydrochloric acid.
The large organ in the upper right abdomen that processes nutrients, makes bile and many blood proteins, stores glycogen, and breaks down drugs, alcohol and toxins.
Where you use it
The largest internal organ. Technical words use hepat- or hepatic: hepatic artery, hepatic portal vein, hepatocyte. Clinicians talk about liver function tests (LFTs) and liver enzymes.
Examples
The liver receives blood from both the hepatic artery and the portal vein.
Bile made in the liver is stored in the gallbladder.
Common phrases
liver function tests · liver enzymes · lobe of the liver · liver cell
One of the two bean-shaped organs at the back of the abdomen that filter the blood, remove waste and extra water as urine, and help to control blood pressure and salt balance.
Where you use it
The technical adjective is renal (renal artery, renal failure), and nephro- forms are also common (nephron, nephrology). The kidneys lie behind the peritoneum, roughly at the level of the T12 to L3 vertebrae.
Examples
The right kidney usually sits a little lower than the left because of the liver.
Each kidney contains around a million nephrons.
Common phrases
kidney function · renal artery · kidney stone · kidney failure · kidney transplant
The process of breaking food down into small molecules that the body can absorb. It is partly mechanical (chewing, churning) and partly chemical, using enzymes.
Where you use it
Physiology courses follow digestion from the mouth to the intestines. The adjective digestive is very common: digestive system, digestive enzymes, digestive tract. The verb is digest.
Examples
The digestion of starch begins in the mouth with an enzyme in saliva.
Most chemical digestion and absorption happen in the small intestine.
Common phrases
chemical digestion · mechanical digestion · digestive system · digestive enzyme · digestive tract
The long, coiled tube between the stomach and the large intestine, made up of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. Most digestion and absorption of nutrients happens here.
Where you use it
Its inner surface has finger-like villi and microvilli that greatly increase the area for absorption. Doctors often say small bowel instead of small intestine, for example in small bowel obstruction.
Examples
The small intestine is much longer than the large intestine, but narrower.
Villi in the small intestine absorb glucose, amino acids and fats.
Common phrases
small bowel · lining of the small intestine · villi · duodenum
The final part of the digestive tract, from the cecum to the rectum and anus. It absorbs water and salts from what remains of digested food, and it forms and stores feces.
Where you use it
Its main part is the colon (ascending, transverse, descending and sigmoid colon). Clinicians often say large bowel or simply colon. It contains huge numbers of bacteria, known as the gut microbiota.
Examples
Water that is not absorbed in the small intestine is mostly taken up in the large intestine.
The appendix is attached to the cecum, the first part of the large intestine.
Usage note
British spellings are caecum and faeces; American spellings are cecum and feces.
Common phrases
large bowel · sigmoid colon · transverse colon · gut bacteria
The muscular tube that carries food and liquid from the throat (pharynx) to the stomach. It runs behind the trachea and passes through the diaphragm.
Where you use it
Food moves down it by peristalsis, waves of muscle contraction. A ring of muscle at its lower end helps to stop stomach acid flowing back up. Patients may call it the food pipe or gullet. The adjective is esophageal.
Examples
In the neck, the esophagus lies directly behind the trachea.
It takes only a few seconds for food to pass down the esophagus.
Usage note
The British spelling is oesophagus. Both spellings are pronounced the same: ih-SOF-uh-gus.
A gland behind the stomach with two jobs: it makes digestive enzymes that flow into the duodenum, and its islet cells release hormones such as insulin and glucagon into the blood.
Where you use it
A classic example of an organ that is both exocrine and endocrine. Lectures refer to the head, body and tail of the pancreas and to the islets of Langerhans. The adjective is pancreatic, as in pancreatic juice and pancreatic duct.
Examples
Beta cells in the pancreas release insulin when blood glucose rises.
The head of the pancreas sits in the curve of the duodenum.
Usage note
Pronounced PAN-kree-us, with the stress on the first syllable.
Common phrases
head of the pancreas · pancreatic juice · pancreatic duct · islets of Langerhans
The hollow, muscular organ in the pelvis that stores urine coming from the kidneys until it is passed out of the body through the urethra.
Where you use it
Its full name is urinary bladder. Urine reaches it through the two ureters, and its wall contains the detrusor muscle. The word also appears in gallbladder, which stores bile, so context matters. Technical forms are vesical and cyst- (cystitis).
Examples
An adult bladder can usually hold about 400 to 600 milliliters of urine.
On ultrasound, a full bladder appears as a dark area in the pelvis.
Common phrases
urinary bladder · full bladder · empty the bladder · bladder wall · gallbladder
The network of the brain, spinal cord and nerves that receives information, processes it and controls the body's responses by sending electrical signals.
Where you use it
Divided into the central nervous system (CNS: brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS: the nerves outside them). The autonomic nervous system controls automatic functions such as heart rate and digestion. CNS and PNS are used constantly in lectures.
Examples
The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
The sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system speeds up the heart.
Usage note
In everyday English 'nervous' means anxious. In anatomy it simply means 'of the nerves'.
Common phrases
central nervous system · peripheral nervous system · autonomic nervous system · sympathetic nervous system
The organ inside the skull that controls thought, memory, movement, the senses and many automatic body functions. Its main parts are the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the brainstem.
Where you use it
The technical adjective is cerebral (cerebral cortex, cerebral blood flow), and the related root is encephal- (encephalitis). Lecturers describe the cerebrum by lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital.
Examples
At rest, the brain uses about a fifth of the body's oxygen.
In most people, damage to the left side of the brain can affect speech.
Usage note
In Turkish, 'beyin' can mean both the whole brain and the cerebrum. In English, brain is the whole organ; the cerebrum is only its largest part.
Common phrases
brain tissue · brainstem · brain function · brain injury · left side of the brain
The long bundle of nerve tissue that runs down from the brain inside the vertebral column. It carries signals between the brain and the body and controls simple reflexes.
Where you use it
Part of the central nervous system. A pair of spinal nerves leaves it at each level, and injuries are described by level, for example a spinal cord injury at C5. In adults it usually ends at around the level of L1–L2.
Examples
The spinal cord is protected by the vertebrae, the meninges and the cerebrospinal fluid.
A lumbar puncture is done below the level where the spinal cord ends.
Usage note
Don't confuse the spinal cord (nerve tissue) with the spine (the column of bones). In Turkish this is the difference between omurilik and omurga.
A cord-like bundle of nerve fibers (axons) that carries electrical signals between the brain or spinal cord and other parts of the body.
Where you use it
Nerves are sensory, motor or mixed. Students must know the 12 pairs of cranial nerves and major nerves such as the sciatic, median and ulnar nerves. Clinicians talk about nerve damage, a trapped nerve and the nerve supply of a muscle.
Examples
The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body.
The ulnar nerve passes behind the elbow, which is why hitting it there hurts so much.
Usage note
Turkish 'sinirli' means angry, but English 'nervous' means anxious. 'To get on someone's nerves' means to annoy them.
A nerve cell: the basic unit of the nervous system that sends and receives electrical and chemical signals. It has a cell body, dendrites that receive signals and an axon that passes them on.
Where you use it
Neurons are classified as sensory neurons, motor neurons or interneurons. Lectures describe how neurons fire, conduct impulses and communicate across synapses. British texts sometimes spell it neurone.
Examples
Motor neurons carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles.
A single neuron can form thousands of connections with other cells.
Common phrases
motor neuron · sensory neuron · upper motor neuron · neuron fires
A chemical messenger made by a gland and carried in the blood to target organs, where it changes how they work. Insulin, cortisol and thyroxine are examples.
Where you use it
Central to endocrine physiology. Glands secrete or release hormones, which bind to receptors on target cells. Hormone levels are measured in blood tests, and the adjective is hormonal.
Examples
Insulin is a hormone that lowers blood glucose.
The pituitary gland releases hormones that control other endocrine glands.
Common phrases
secrete a hormone · release a hormone · hormone levels · growth hormone · thyroid hormone
The junction where a nerve cell passes a signal to another nerve cell, a muscle cell or a gland cell, usually by releasing chemical messengers called neurotransmitters.
Where you use it
Lectures describe the presynaptic neuron, the synaptic cleft and the postsynaptic cell. The junction between a nerve and a skeletal muscle fiber is called the neuromuscular junction. The adjective is synaptic.
Examples
Acetylcholine is released at the synapse and binds to receptors on the next cell.
Many drugs work by changing how signals cross the synapse.
Common phrases
synaptic cleft · chemical synapse · neurotransmitter · neuromuscular junction
An organ or group of cells that makes and releases a substance. Endocrine glands release hormones into the blood; exocrine glands release secretions such as sweat or saliva through ducts.
Where you use it
Common examples are the thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, salivary and sweat glands. Glands secrete substances, and the adjective is glandular. Patients often say 'swollen glands' about lumps in the neck, but these are usually lymph nodes.
A brief electrical signal that travels along the membrane of a nerve or muscle cell. Sodium ions rush into the cell (depolarization), and then potassium ions flow out (repolarization).
Where you use it
Found in every neurophysiology chapter. An action potential is all-or-nothing: once the threshold is reached it fires fully, otherwise not at all. Related terms are resting membrane potential (about −70 mV in neurons), threshold and refractory period.
Examples
An action potential is generated when the membrane reaches threshold.
Myelin allows action potentials to travel much faster along the axon.
Common phrases
generate an action potential · fire an action potential · resting membrane potential · threshold · refractory period
A fast, automatic response to a stimulus that does not need conscious thought, such as pulling your hand away from something hot. Many simple reflexes are handled by the spinal cord.
Where you use it
Students learn the reflex arc: receptor, sensory neuron, integration center, motor neuron and effector. In a clinical exam, doctors test deep tendon reflexes such as the knee jerk and describe them as absent, reduced, normal or brisk.
Examples
The knee-jerk reflex involves only two neurons and one synapse in the spinal cord.
The part of the brain at the back of the head, below the cerebrum, that coordinates movement, balance and posture and helps with learning motor skills.
Where you use it
Anatomy lectures describe its two hemispheres and the vermis between them. Damage to it causes clumsy, uncoordinated movement (ataxia) on the same side of the body. The adjective is cerebellar, as in cerebellar signs.
Examples
The cerebellum helps you keep your balance when you walk on uneven ground.
The cerebellum lies below the occipital lobes and behind the brainstem.
Usage note
Don't confuse the cerebellum (the 'little brain') with the cerebrum (the large main part of the brain).
Common phrases
cerebellar hemisphere · cerebellar function · cerebellar signs · vermis
A butterfly-shaped endocrine gland at the front of the neck, below the larynx. It makes the thyroid hormones (T3 and T4), which control metabolic rate, and the hormone calcitonin.
Where you use it
Students describe its two lobes joined by the isthmus. Its hormones need iodine, and their release is controlled by TSH from the pituitary gland through negative feedback. In everyday use people just say 'thyroid'.
Examples
The thyroid gland moves up when the patient swallows.
The thyroid gland needs iodine to make its hormones.
Common phrases
thyroid hormone · thyroid function · lobe of the thyroid · thyroid-stimulating hormone
The study of how the body and its parts work, for example how the heart pumps blood, how nerves send signals and how the kidneys make urine.
Where you use it
Anatomy describes structure; physiology explains function. Students talk about cardiac physiology, renal physiology and exercise physiology. The adjective physiological also describes normal body changes that are not caused by disease, as in a physiological response.
Examples
Our physiology exam covers the heart, the lungs and the kidneys.
A faster heart rate during exercise is a normal physiological response.
The body's ability to keep its internal conditions, such as temperature, blood sugar and water balance, fairly stable even when the outside environment changes.
Where you use it
A key idea in every physiology course. Exam questions ask how the body maintains homeostasis and what happens when it is disrupted. It works mostly through negative feedback loops controlled by the nervous and endocrine systems.
Examples
Sweating on a hot day helps to maintain homeostasis by cooling the body.
Explain how the kidneys contribute to the homeostasis of water and salt.
All the chemical reactions in the body's cells that break down food for energy and build new molecules. It includes catabolism (breaking down) and anabolism (building up).
Where you use it
Used in physiology and biochemistry (glucose metabolism, drug metabolism in the liver) and in everyday talk about weight, where people say someone has a fast or slow metabolism. Metabolic rate measures how quickly energy is used. The verb is metabolize.
Examples
Thyroid hormones increase the rate of metabolism in almost every tissue.
The liver plays a central role in the metabolism of drugs and alcohol.
The movement of particles from an area where they are more concentrated to an area where they are less concentrated, without the cell using energy. Oxygen enters the blood in the lungs this way.
Where you use it
A passive transport process, compared in lectures with osmosis and active transport. Substances are said to diffuse down a concentration gradient. Facilitated diffusion uses protein channels or carriers but still needs no energy.
Examples
Carbon dioxide moves out of the blood into the alveoli by diffusion.
Glucose enters most cells by facilitated diffusion.
Common phrases
simple diffusion · facilitated diffusion · concentration gradient · rate of diffusion · diffuse across
The movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from a more dilute solution into a more concentrated one, until the two sides become more equal.
Where you use it
A special kind of diffusion that involves water only. Related terms are osmotic pressure and tonicity: isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic solutions. A classic exam question asks what happens to red blood cells placed in pure water.
Examples
In pure water, red blood cells swell and burst because water enters them by osmosis.
In the collecting ducts, water leaves the urine by osmosis and returns to the blood.
A control system in which a change in the body triggers a response that reverses the change and brings conditions back toward a set point. It is the main way homeostasis is maintained.
Where you use it
Physiology students describe feedback loops with a sensor (receptor), a control center and an effector. Examples include the control of body temperature and blood glucose. Positive feedback, which amplifies a change, is much rarer; contractions during childbirth are the classic example.
Examples
When blood glucose rises, insulin brings it back down: a typical negative feedback loop.
Thyroid hormone levels are controlled by negative feedback on the pituitary gland.
Common phrases
negative feedback loop · negative feedback mechanism · positive feedback · set point
A protein that speeds up a specific chemical reaction in the body without being used up. Digestive enzymes, for example, break food down into molecules small enough to be absorbed.
Where you use it
Many enzyme names end in -ase: amylase, lipase, protease. An enzyme acts on a substrate and works best at a particular temperature and pH. In clinical work, raised enzyme levels in the blood can point to damage in an organ.
Examples
Pepsin is an enzyme in the stomach that starts the digestion of proteins.
Most enzymes stop working properly if the temperature gets too high.
Common phrases
digestive enzyme · liver enzymes · enzyme activity · active site
The process by which digested nutrients, water and other substances pass from the gut into the blood or lymph, mostly through the wall of the small intestine.
Where you use it
Used in physiology (absorption of glucose, iron, vitamin B12) and in pharmacology, where it describes how a drug enters the bloodstream. The verb is absorb. In the kidney the matching word is reabsorption.
Examples
Vitamin B12 absorption takes place in the last part of the small intestine.
Villi greatly increase the surface area available for absorption.
Usage note
Watch the spelling: the verb absorb has a b, but the noun absorption has a p.
Common phrases
absorption of nutrients · iron absorption · intestinal absorption · reabsorption
A word part from Greek meaning 'heart'. It appears as cardi- or cardio- at the start of words and as -cardia or -cardium at the end, as in cardiology, tachycardia and myocardium.
Where you use it
Once you know it, many words become clear: cardiac (of the heart), cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels), pericardium (the sac around the heart). In gym English, 'cardio' on its own means aerobic exercise.
Examples
The cardiovascular system includes the heart, the blood vessels and the blood.
A word ending meaning 'the study of' or 'the science of'. Histology is the study of tissues, cytology the study of cells and neurology the study of the nervous system and its diseases.
Where you use it
Used for subjects and medical specialties. The person is usually -ologist (cardiologist, histologist), and the adjective is -ological (physiological). In Turkish the ending becomes -loji: fizyoloji, histoloji.
Examples
Histology is the study of tissues under the microscope.
She wants to specialize in neurology after medical school.
Usage note
The stress always falls on the syllable just before -logy: phy-si-OL-o-gy, his-TOL-o-gy, car-di-OL-o-gy.
A word part from Greek meaning 'bone'. It appears in osteocyte (bone cell), osteoblast (bone-building cell), osteology (the study of bones) and osteoporosis.
Where you use it
It appears as oste- before a vowel (osteitis) and osteo- before a consonant. The Latin equivalent, oss-, gives osseous (bony) and ossification (bone formation). Turkish keeps it as osteo-: osteoblast, osteoporoz.
Examples
Osteoblasts build new bone, while osteoclasts break old bone down.
Osteology is usually the first part of the anatomy course.
A word part from Greek meaning 'nerve' or 'nervous system'. It appears in neurology, neurotransmitter, neuroanatomy and, in a shorter form, in neuron.
Where you use it
It appears as neur- before a vowel (neuralgia, neuritis) and neuro- before a consonant. The adjective neural comes from the same root (neural tube, neural pathways). Turkish uses nöro-: nöroloji, nöroanatomi.
Examples
Neuroanatomy is often the hardest part of the second-year course.
Dopamine and serotonin are both neurotransmitters.
A word part from Greek meaning 'stomach'. It appears in gastric (of the stomach), gastrointestinal (of the stomach and intestines) and gastroenterology.
Where you use it
It appears as gastr- before a vowel (gastritis) and gastro- before a consonant. The abbreviation GI (gastrointestinal) is used all the time: GI tract, GI bleeding. Turkish keeps the root: gastrik, gastrointestinal.
Examples
The gastrointestinal tract runs from the mouth to the anus.
Gastric juice contains hydrochloric acid and the enzyme pepsin.
Common phrases
gastric · gastrointestinal · GI tract · gastroenterology · epigastric
A word part from Greek meaning 'liver'. It appears in hepatic (of the liver), hepatocyte (liver cell) and hepatitis (inflammation of the liver).
Where you use it
It appears as hepat- before a vowel and hepato- before a consonant (hepatomegaly, an enlarged liver). Common anatomy terms include hepatic artery, hepatic veins and hepatic portal system.
Examples
Hepatocytes make up most of the volume of the liver.
A word part from Greek meaning 'kidney'. It appears in nephron (the filtering unit of the kidney), nephrology (the study of kidney disease) and nephrectomy (removal of a kidney).
Where you use it
It appears as nephr- before a vowel and nephro- before a consonant. The Latin root ren- gives the adjective renal, which is used more often in anatomy: renal artery, renal pelvis, renal cortex.
Examples
The nephron is the basic functional unit of the kidney.
A word ending from Greek meaning 'cell'. It appears in erythrocyte (red blood cell), leukocyte (white blood cell), osteocyte (bone cell) and hepatocyte (liver cell).
Where you use it
The same root appears at the start of words as cyto-: cytoplasm (the contents of a cell), cytology (the study of cells). In Turkish the ending becomes -sit: eritrosit, lökosit, hepatosit.
Examples
Leukocytes defend the body against infection.
Osteocytes sit in small spaces inside mature bone.
Usage note
Pronounced like 'site': erythrocyte is ih-RITH-ruh-site.
A prefix meaning 'inside' or 'within', as in intracellular (inside cells), intravenous (into a vein) and intramuscular (into a muscle).
Where you use it
Common in physiology (intracellular fluid) and in clinical language (intravenous, IV; intramuscular, IM). Do not confuse it with inter-, which means 'between': the intercostal muscles lie between the ribs.
Examples
About two-thirds of the body's water is intracellular fluid.
The drug was given intravenously so that it would act quickly.
Usage note
Intra- means inside (intracellular); inter- means between (intercellular). One letter changes the meaning.
Ten questions from this glossary. Pick the right meaning for each term and see your score.
How to learn anatomy & physiology vocabulary
Learn directional terms in opposite pairs (anterior/posterior, medial/lateral, proximal/distal, superficial/deep) and practise them on your own body: 'My wrist is distal to my elbow.'
Break long words into parts. If you know cardi- (heart), hepat- (liver), oste- (bone), -cyte (cell) and -ology (study of), words like osteocyte, hepatocyte and cardiology explain themselves.
Learn each organ together with its adjective, because textbooks use the adjective far more often: heart and cardiac, kidney and renal, liver and hepatic, lung and pulmonary, stomach and gastric.
Read real anatomy and physiology texts in English every week, such as textbook chapters, atlas labels and journal abstracts, and notice how positions are described: 'lies posterior to', 'passes through', 'drains into'.
Say every structure out loud while you study an atlas or a model. Many terms have silent letters or unexpected stress (muscle, diaphragm, physiology) and Greek or Latin plurals (vertebrae, nuclei, alveoli).
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know Latin to study anatomy in English?
No, but recognizing Latin and Greek roots helps a lot. English textbooks use English names for most structures (heart, kidney, thigh bone) and keep Latin names for many muscles and some vessels (biceps brachii, vena cava). Adjectives usually come from Latin or Greek: renal, hepatic, cardiac, pulmonary. Once you know the common roots, you can match the Latin names you learned in Turkish with the English terms quickly.
What is the difference between anatomy and physiology?
Anatomy is about structure: what a part of the body looks like, where it is and what it is connected to. Physiology is about function: how that part works and how it is controlled. For example, anatomy describes the chambers and valves of the heart, while physiology explains the cardiac cycle and blood pressure. Most programs teach them side by side because structure and function depend on each other.
Which anatomy terms should I learn first?
Start with the anatomical position, the directional terms (anterior, posterior, superior, inferior, medial, lateral, proximal, distal) and the body planes, because every textbook description depends on them. Then learn the levels of organization (cell, tissue, organ, system), the main bones, muscles and joints, and the major organs of each system. The first tier of this list follows that order.
Why do some anatomy words have two spellings, like esophagus and oesophagus?
American English simplifies the vowel pairs ae and oe that come from Greek and Latin, while British English keeps them: esophagus/oesophagus, hemoglobin/haemoglobin, cecum/caecum, feces/faeces, edema/oedema. Both are correct. This glossary uses American spelling and gives the British form where it matters. Choose one style for your own writing and use it consistently.
How can I pronounce anatomy terms correctly?
Pay attention to stress, which often falls on a different syllable than in Turkish: physi-OL-ogy, ho-meo-STA-sis, CAR-ti-lage. Learn the silent letters (the c in muscle, the g in diaphragm, the b in limb) and the Greek and Latin plurals (vertebrae, nuclei, alveoli). Listen to recorded lectures and audio dictionaries, and repeat new terms aloud until they feel natural.
