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Anatomy & Physiology vocabulary · Muscles, Joints and Movement

Joint

Meaning in anatomy & physiology, with examples

/dʒɔɪnt/nounCore term

In anatomy & physiology, joint means: 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.

In Turkish: eklem

How it is used

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.

Example sentences

  1. The knee is the largest synovial joint in the body.

  2. She has stiffness in several joints of her hands every morning.

Common collocations

  • synovial joint
  • joint capsule
  • hip joint
  • joint pain
  • range of motion
  • ligamentA tough band of fibrous connective tissue that connects one bone to another and keeps a joint stable.
  • cartilageA 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.
  • 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.
  • flexionA bending movement that decreases the angle between two body parts, such as bending the elbow or the knee.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Muscles, Joints and Movement

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