| Term |
Original Meaning |
Medical Application |
| malleus L |
Hammer |
a small bone in the
middle ear, shaped like a tiny hammer |
malleolus L.
adj. malleolar |
Little Hammer |
the protruding bones
on either side of the ankle joint |
patella L.
adj. patellar |
a little pan |
the knee cap, a
somewhat round flat bone |
septum L.
adj. septal |
fence, partition |
a natural dividing
wall or partition |
salpinx Gr.
adj. salpingeal |
trumpet |
a tube with a flared
outlet resembling an ancient trumpet |
tympanum L/Gr.
adj. tympanic |
drum |
eardrum = the middle
ear; tympanic membrane |
NOTES:
1. The stem of "tympanum" is also used
in the term "tympanites" to mean distension of the
abdomen by gas ("sounding like a
drum" on percussion), not to be confused with the term
"tympanitis",
meaning "inflammation" of the "tympanum or middle ear" ,
also called "otitis
media (Gr. ot- = ear,-itis =
inflammation, L. media = middle).
2. The term "clavicle" ("little
bolt" or "little locking device") for the appr. six inch long
human collar bone may seem
inappropriate. But we must remember that in antiquity
dissections were performed only on
animals. Except for the great apes, most animals that
were used for anatomical studies have
rudimentary small collar bones. In this light, it is
then quite understandable that
anatomists in ancient times compared the clavicles of
dissected animals to "small
bolts".
3. The malleus (a tiny bone in the middle ear) is
actually much smaller than the malleolus
(named "little" hammer),
but the term "malleolus" had already been established as "ankle
bone" when the "malleus"
was recognized and named. However, the resemblance of the
malleus to a hammer, even by
function, is so striking that it overshadows the discrepancy
in regards to size.
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