ANGLES
Sharp bony angulations that may serve as bony or soft tissue attachments, but are often used for precise anatomical description
- EX: superior, inferior, & acromial angle of the scapula
BODY
Largest, most prominent segment of bone
- EX: shaft of long bones (like femur & humerus)
CONDYLE
Large prominence that often provides structural support to the overlying hyaline cartilage
- Bears the brunt of the force exerted from the joint
- EX: knee joint (hinge joint)
CREST
Raised or prominent part of the edge of a bone where connective tissue attaches muscle to bone
- EX: iliac crest of the ilium
DIAPHYSIS
Main part or the shaft of of a long bone
- EX: femur, humerus, & tibia
EPICONDYLE
Prominence that sits atop a condyle, attaching muscle & connective tissue to bone
- Provides support to musculoskeletal system
- EX: femoral, medial, & lateral epicondyles
EPIPHYSIS
Articulating segment of a bone, usually at proximal & distal poles of the bone
- Usually has larger diameter than the shaft (diaphysis)
- Critical for the growth of bone because it sits adjacent to the growth plate (physeal plate)
FACET
Smooth, flat surface that forms a joint with another flat bone or another facet, forming a gliding joint
- EX: facet joints of the vertebrae
FISSURE
Open slit in a bone
- Contains blood vessels & nerves
- EX: superior & inferior orbital fissure
FORAMEN
Hole through which nerves & blood vessels pass
- EX: mental foramen on the cranium
FOSSA
Shallow depression in the bone surface
- May receive another articulating bone, or act to support brain structures
- EX: posterior, middle, & anterior cranial fossa
GROOVE
Furrow in the bone surface that runs along the length of a vessel or nerve, providing space to avoid compression by adjacent muscle or external forces
- EX: radial groove
HEAD
Rounded, prominent extension of bone that forms part of a joint; main articulating surface with adjoining bone
- Forms a ball-and-socket joint
- Separated from from the shaft by the neck
- Covered in hyaline cartilage inside a synovial capsule
- EX: head of femur
MARGIN
Edge of any flat bone used to accurately define a bone’s borders
- EX: occipital margin of temporal bone (edge of the temporal bone articulates with occipital bone)
MEATUS
Tubelike channel that extends within the bone
- Provides passage & protection to nerves, vessels, & sound
- EX: internal auditory meatus
NECK
Segment between the head and the shaft of a bone, differentiated from the head by presence of the physeal line or physeal scar
- Anatomical Neck- may represent the old epiphyseal plate, often denoted by attachment to capsular ligaments
- Surgical Neck- more distal & is the site on the neck most commonly fractured
- EX: anatomical & surgical neck of humerus
NOTCH
Depression in a bone, often provides stabilization to an adjacent articulating bone, which slides in & out of the notch
- Guides the range of motion of the joint
- EX: trochlear notch of ulna
RAMUS
Curved part of a bone, gives structural support to the rest of the bone
- EX: superior & inferior pubic ramus
SINUS
Cavity within any organ or tissue
- EX: paranasal & dural venous sinus
SPINOUS PROCESS
Raised, sharp elevation of bone where muscles & connective tissue attach
- More pronounced than a normal process
TROCHANTER
Large prominence on the side of a bone that attaches large muscle groups & most dense connective tissue
- EX: greater & lesser trochanter of femur
TUBEROSITY
Moderate prominence where muscles & connective tissues attach, has similar function to a trochanter
- EX: tibial tuberosity
TUBERCLE
Small, rounded prominence where connective tissues attach
- EX: greater & lesser tubercle of humerus
