Medical Terminology Simplified

2–10 Underline the suffixes in the following terms that mean pertaining to:

cardi/ac

umbilic/al

nucle/ar

pulmon/ary

tox/ic

anter/ior

cutane/ous

acous/tic

2–11 The human body is capable of being in many different positions, such as

standing, kneeling, and lying down. To guarantee consistency in descriptions of loca-

tion, the anatomic/al position is used as a reference point to describe the location or

direction of a body structure. In anatomic/al position, the body is erect and the eyes

are looking forward. The arms hang to the sides, with palms facing forward; the legs

are parallel with the toes pointing straight ahead.

Review Figure 2–2 and study the terms to become acquainted with their usage in de-

noting positions of direction when the body is in the anatomic/al position. Refer to

this figure to complete the following frames.

2–12 When a person is standing upright, facing forward, arms at his or her sides,

palms facing forward, legs parallel, and feet slightly apart with the toes pointing

forward, he or she is in the standard position called the ____________________ /

__________ ____________________.

2–13 Health-care professionals use a common language of special terms when re-

ferring to body structures and their functions. However, their descriptions of any re-

gion or part of the human body assume that it is in anatomic/al position.

In anatomical position, the terms anter/ior and ventr/al refer to the front of the body

or the front of any body structure. The terms poster/ior and dors/al refer to the back of

the bodyor the back of any body structure.

Identify the elements in this frame that refer to the

front of the body: ____________________ / __________and

__________ / __________

back of the body:____________________ / __________and

__________ / __________

Boldfaceindicates a word root or combining form. Blueindicates a suffix. Pinkindicates a prefix.

34 CHAPTER 2• Body Structure

cardi/ac

KĂR-dē-ăk

umbilic/al

ŭm-BĬL-ĭ-kăl

nucle/ar

NŪ-klē-ăr

pulmon/ary

PŬL-mō-nĕ-rē

tox/ic

TŎKS-ĭk

anter/ior

ăn-TĒ-rē-or

cutane/ous

kū-TĀ-nē-ŭs

acous/tic

ă-KOOS-tĭk

anatomic/al position

ăn-ă-TŎM-ĭk-ăl

anter/ior, ventr/al

ăn-TĒ-rē-or, VĔN-trăl

poster/ior, dors/al

pŏs-TĒ-rē-or, DŌR-săl