Okuzeka
Anatomy & Physiology vocabulary · Bones and the Skeleton

Femur

Meaning in anatomy & physiology, with examples

/ˈfiːmər/nounCommon term

In anatomy & physiology, femur means: The thigh bone: the long bone between the hip and the knee. It is the longest and strongest bone in the human body.

In Turkish: femur, uyluk kemiği

How it is used

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.

Example sentences

  1. The head of the femur fits into the socket of the hip bone.

  2. The X-ray showed a fracture of the neck of the femur.

Common collocations

  • head of the femur
  • neck of the femur
  • shaft of the femur
  • femoral artery
  • boneThe 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.
  • pelvisThe 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.
  • skeletonThe framework of bones and cartilage that supports the body, protects the organs and allows movement. An adult skeleton usually has 206 bones.
  • proximalCloser 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.

More terms: Bones and the Skeleton

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level:

This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.