When studying anatomy for the first time, you may encounter descriptive or functional terms that are unfamiliar. Use of the correct anatomical terms for position, location, and direction is essential when describing a particular movement, exercise, or activity to a client or colleague.
Most anatomical terms have their roots in the Latin and Greek languages, and are usually quite descriptive. For example, many muscle names tell of the muscle’s location, shape, or action. To illustrate this point, let us use the anterior tibialis muscle as our example. Anterior means “toward the front” while tibialis refers to the tibia, the larger of the two bones in the lower leg. In this case, by knowing the meanings of the root words,