Many bones in the human skeleton have parts named using Latin and Greek terms. Can you name any bones in the skull using terms derived from Latin or Greek and give their meanings?

Question

Latin and Greek were the languages used by scholars from antiquity and up through the middle ages and the age of enlightenment. Many bone names or bone part names use Latin words which can help the student better learn and remember their bones if they know the meanings.

Answer 1

There is a thin bony structure that protrudes up from the ethmoid bone called crista galli. Crista galli is Latin for crest of the rooster and this bony structure resembles the comb of a rooster in the way it looks. The membrane that divides the hemispheres of the brain attaches to the skull at the crista galli. This is also a landmark that is often used in imaging and brain scans.

Many of the names used in anatomy use Latin words to describe the shape or function of the structure. It can be helpful to familiarize yourself with some of these words, especially the ones that repeat often. When considering the skull, the word foramen comes to mind, which is Latin for hole or cavity. Structures that resemble a tunnel or hole will often be named with a two-word term starting with the word foramen (or foramina if plural).

Answer 2

The sphenoid bone has a structure called the sella turcica which means Turkish saddle. The structure looks like a saddle used by people in the country of Turkey. Unlike a western saddle or English saddle, it has a very unique shape very close to the structure of the sphenoid bone. This sella turcica houses the pituitary gland and has a very unique shape.

The ethmoid bone has two distinct structures coming from Latin: the cribriform plate and the crista galli. Cribriform means tiny holes and this very delicate wafer thin bone has many tiny holes allowing the olfactory receptors in your upper sinus passages to synapse with the olfactory nerve. You can think of the crista galli as a spear tip. The perpendicular plate of the ethmoid bone ends in the crista galli and it translates to the cock's comb or the red structure on top of a roosters head. It looks like a small peak of bone pushing up in the anterior inner skull surrounded by the cribriform plate.

Sometimes these Latin meanings can help a student better remember a bone or bone structure!