Clinical Anatomical Terminology

Terminologia Anatomica - 2017 Update

FIPAT Gross and Clinical Anatomy Working Group

Click to access a PDF document of Terminologia Anatomica with suggested changes and clinical terms, Anatomical Terminology.

This PDF contains the anatomical terminology accepted by the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology at its meeting in Goettingen in 2016. Column One is the official Latin/Greek term, while Column Two presents Latin/Greek alternative terms when they exist. Column Three presents the UK English translation, and Column Four presents the American English spelling. Column Five presents unaccepted alternative terminology, usually representing historical terms, eponyms, or clinical jargon. Column Six presents notes and references for some terms that have undergone recent change.

Use the text search feature of your browser, usually accessed by entering Command-F, to search for any terms.

A very nice site that presents anatomical terms and images can be found on the web at www.AnatomicalTerms.info, by Paul Gobée of the University of Leiden.

A site that contains interesting information on anatomical and medical eponyms may be found at www.whonamedit.com.

If you would like to submit a term for consideration, or to provide feedback on this site, please use the feedback form to send a message to Dr. Tom Gest, Department of Medical Education, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.

Suggested global changes made for the updated edition of Terminologia Anatomica:
Both UK English and American English spelling are listed, so that word searches can be done with either spelling. (i.e. oesophagus/esophagus, coeliac/celiac, caecum/cecum, fibres/fibers, etc.)
Terms that are hyphenated are also listed as non-hyphenated, so that word searches can be done on either spelling. (i.e. gastro-omental/gastroomental)

Cranial nerves use Roman numerals exclusively, while other structures such as vertebrae, ribs, digits, etc. should use Arabic numerals only. This matches the spinal nerves, which currently use Arabic numerals, and is logical, since vertebrae and ribs correlate with spinal nerves, for the most part.
"Muscle" is added to the English translation of every muscle, since it is part of the term. This is consistent with the format for arteries, veins, nerves, etc.