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GLOSSARY of HISTOLOGICAL & MICRO-ANATOMICAL TERMS

from the Department of Anatomy, University of New South Wales, Sidney Australia,

A-B C-D E-F G-H I-K L-M N-O P-R S-T U-Z

 

Sabin, Florence Rena. 1871-1953 American anatomist; studied development of blood, lymphatics & blood vessels.

 

sac L. saccus = sack, bag, from G. sakkos.

 

saccule L. sacculus = a little bag, a purse; 1. smaller of two sacs of membranous labyrinth of inner ear, 2. saccule of larynx.

 

salivary L. saliva = spittle.

 

salpinx G. = a trumpet; the uterine tube.

 

Santorini, Giovanni Domenico. 1681-1737 Venice anatomist; pupil of Malpighi; caruncula of S. = orifice of accessory pancreatic duct into duodenhum; duct of S. = accessory pancreatic duct; superior nasal concha.

 

Sappey, Marie-Philibert-Constant. 1810-1896 Paris anatomist; S.'s plexus = plexus of lymphatic vessels in areola of breast (caput medusae); para-umbilical veins.

 

sarcolemma G. sarkos = flesh + lemma = rind, husk; plasma membrane plus basement membrane of a single muscle cell.

 

sarcomere G. " + meros = a part; repeating unit (segment) of myofibril from one Z-disc to the next.

 

sarcoplasm G. " + plasma = a thing formed; cytoplasm of a muscle cell.

 

sarcoplasmic reticulum endoplasmic reticulum of a muscle cell.

 

satellite cell modified neurilemmal (Schwann) cells which surround a cell soma in a ganglion.

 

Sattler, Hubert. 1844-1928 Austrian ophthalmologist; S.'s layer = elastic lamina in the tunica vasculosa of choroid.

 

scala (-ae) L. = stairs, spiral staircase, from L. scandere = to climb; any one of three spiral passages of cochlea which lead to helicotrema, or to cupula.

 

scala media G. " + L. medius = middle; spiral of middle cochlear duct lying between scala vestibuli and scala tympani, containing endolymph.

 

scala tympani G. " + tympanon = drum; the spiralling cochlear duct below spiral lamina, containing perilymph and ending at round window near tympanic membrane.

 

scala vestibuli G " + L. vestibulum = cavity at beginning of canal; the spiralling cochlear duct above spiral lamina, containing perilymph, beginning near the vestbule and ending where it communicates with the scala tympani at the helicotrema.

 

Scarpa, Antonio. 1747-1832 Moderna, Pavia anatomist & surgeon, pupil of Morgagni; excellent medical artist; S.'c canals = lesser incisive canals of teeth; S.'s fascia = membranous layer of superficial fascia of abdomen (1823); S.'s ganglion = vestibular ganglion.

 

Schiff, Hugo. 1834-1915 German biochemist; S.'s reagent is Basic Fuchsin bleached with sulphurous acid, used for detection of aldehydes; cf. PAS.

 

Schleiden, Matthias 1804-1881 Jena, Dorpat & Franfurt botanist; early supporter of Darwin; plant microscopist and discoverer of the universality of the cell in plant structure (1838), cf. Schwann.

 

Schlemm, Friedrich. 1795-1858 Berlin anatomist; canal of S. = sinus venosus sclerae draining aqueous humour at corneo-scleral junction of eye (1830).

 

Schmidt, Henry D. 1823-1888 New Orleans pathologist; Schmidt-Lanterman clefts in myelin sheath; internodes.

 

Schneider, Conrad Viktor. 1610-1680 Wittenberg physician; discovered location of olfactory nerve endings (1655); membrane of S. (Schneiderian membrane) = nasal mucous membrane = nasal mucosa.

 

Schwalbe, Gustav A. 1844-1916 German anatomist; S.'s ring = anterior limiting ring = limbus marking edge of cornea at termination of Descemet's membrane and anterior border of trabecular meshwork, q.v.

 

Schwann, Theodor. 1810-1882 Student of Johannes Müller in Berlin; Louvain & Liège anatomist & physiologist; discovered pepsin (1835); recognized cell is basic unit of life (1838, founder of cell theory with Schleiden, q.v.); showed bile is essential for digestion (1844); S. cells = neurilemma cells making myelin sheath; sheath of S. = neurilemma = myelin sheath (1839).

 

sclera G. skleros = hard; tough, fibrous outer layer of eyeball.

 

scrotum a corruption of L. scortum = a skin, hide; scrotum cordis = early term for pericardium.

 

sebaceous adj. L. = fatty; of skin glands producing sebum.

 

sebum L. = tallow, suet, grease; the secretion from sebaceous glands.

 

secretion L. secretus = separated; production of materials by glandular activity.

 

seminal vesicle L. seminalis = of seed + vesicula = a little bladder; accessory gland of male reproductive system, which does not normally contain semen, but may do so due to a post-mortem reflux.

 

seminiferous adj. L. semen = seed + ferre = to produce; of a tubule in testis which produces spermatozoa.

 

septum (-a) L. saeptum = fenced in; hence, a flat partition; e.g., septum pellucidum.

 

serosa L. serum = whey; a pale fluid; a serous membrane lining body cavities.

 

serous adj. L. = having nature of serum.

 

serratus L. = notched like a saw.

 

Sertoli, Enrico. 1842-1910 Milan physiologist, histologist; S. cells = sustentacular cells of seminiferous tubules.

 

serum L. = whey (watery part of curdled milk); yellowish watery fluid remaining after blood clotting; adj. serous.

 

sesamoid G. sesamoeides = like grains of sesame; of small bones formed inside tendons (Galen, c. 180 AD).

 

Sharpey, William. 1802-1880 London anatomist & physiologist; S.'s penetrating fibres = collagen fibres penetrating into bone from periosteum or tendon, or into dentine of tooth from periodontal membrane (1848).

 

Sherrington, Charles Scott (Sir). 1857-1952 Liverpool & Oxford physiologist; Nobel Prize (1932); dermatomes, the segmental skin fields of sensory nerves (1892).

 

Shrapnell, Henry Jones. ?-1834 military surgeon, London; S.'s membrane = flaccid part of tympanic membrane (1832).

 

sinus L. = a hollow, a curved space; usually a larger vessel, or space, which may contain air, blood, or lymph.

 

sinusoid L. " + G. -oeides = like; a tiny vessel with a tortuous path and many connections to similar vessels, e.g., hepatic sinusoids, bone marrow sinusoids.

 

skeleton G. skeletos = dried.

 

Skene, Alexander Johnston Chalmers. 1838-1900 American gynecologist; S.'s glands = para-urethral glands of female (1880).

 

smegma G. = soap; an accumulation of sebum and desquamated epithelial cells under the prepuce in the male.

 

soma (-ata) G. = body, mortal part of body (as opposed to G. psyche = soul); cell body.

 

somatic adj. G. " ; of cells of the body excluding cells of the viscera and sex cells.

 

spermatogenesis G. sperma = seed + gennan = to produce; process by which sperms mature.

 

spermatogonium (-ia) G. " + gone = generation; the immature male germ cell.

 

spermatozoon (-oa) G. " + zoon = animal; mature male germ cell (abb. sperm).

 

spermiogenesis process whereby spermatid is transformed to spermatozoon, the last stage of spermatogenesis.

 

sphincter G. sphinkter = a binder, from sphingo = I strangle; a ring-like muscle controlling an aperture.

 

spicule L. spiculum = a dart; a hard, needle-like structure, e.g., spicules of bone in cancellous bone (most spicules are lamellae).

 

spinosum L. spina = thorn.

 

spiral lamina a double plate (upper & lower) of thin bone projecting from modiolus into cochlear canal of bony labyrinth; site of inner attachment for basilar membrane; dendrites of cochlear nerve run between the two bony plates.

 

spiral limbus = limbus of spiral lamina the thickened periosteum of the upper plate of the bony spiral lamina

 

spleen L. splen, or (by dropping "sp") lien = spleen.

 

splenic corpuscle elongated mass of lymphoid tissue forming a cuff around a central artery or arteriole of the spleen.

 

spongiose G. spongia = a sponge, e.g., corpus spongiosum.

 

spongy bone cf. cancellous bone which has numerous interconnecting spaces.

 

squamous adj. L. squama = scale (of a fish), a paving stone; of an epithelium with flat cells.

 

stapes L. = a stirrup, from L. stare = to stand + pes = a foot (prior to c. 4th century AD, Greeks & Romans did not have stirrups); smallest of middle ear ossicles.

 

stellate adj. L. stella = star; star-shaped; stellate reticulum is the pulp of the enamel organ of a developing tooth.

 

Stensen (Steno), Niels. 1638-1686 Copenhagen anatomist; wrote extensively on anatomy in Rome; became a catholic, Bishop of Titiopolis; travelled widely; S.'s canals = greater incisive canals; S.'s duct = parotid duct.

 

stereocilia G. stereos = solid + L. cilia = hairs; long, branching microvilli on epithelial cells of ductus epididymidis.

 

stereology G. " + logos = study, knowledge; interpretation of three dimensional form based on study and mathematical analysis of two dimensional sections.

 

steroid G. " + -oeides = form; sex hormones and adrenal cortex hormones.

 

stomach G. stomachos = gullet or oesophagus, from G. stoma = a mouth + cheo = I pour; lower end of the gullet; organ attached to lower end. NB. Greeks used gaster for stomach.

 

stratum (-a) L. = layer, bed-covering, sheet; of layers in the skin: cf. basale, spinosum, germinativum, granulosum; lucidum, corneum; rete Malpighii.

 

stria L. = a channel, a furrow, a flute in a column.

 

striate cortex = visual part of cerebral cortex, so named because of distinct stria of Gennari, q.v.

 

striated border L. striatus = striped; light microscopic term for the fine microvilli on intestinal absorptive cells.

 

striated duct L. "; duct in an exocrine gland characterised by radial streaks in basal region of epithelial cells.

 

stroma G. = a cover, table-cloth, bedding; strictly, an incorrect term for the internal supporting frame-work of a tissue, or organ, as opposed to its parenchyma.

 

subcutis L. sub = under + cutis = skin; hypodermis = superficial fascia = tela subcutanea.

 

submandibular adj. L. " + mandibula = jaw.

 

succus entericus L. = juice + of the intestine.

 

succus gastricus L. = juice + of the stomach.

 

sulcus L. = a furrow, from sulcare = to plough.

 

superciliary adj. L. super = above + cilium = eyelid; relating to eyebrow.

 

sustentacular L. sustentaculum = a support, a prop; of nurse cells supporting the activity of a principal cell type.

 

suture L. sutura = a seam (in sewing).

 

Swammerdam, Jan. 1637-1680 Dutch physician, became a melancholic and religious mystic; described blood cells (1658), valves of lymphatics (1664); constancy of muscle volume during contraction.

 

Sylvius (= François de la Boë). 1614-1672 Amsterdam & Leiden physician; aqueduct or iter of S. = cerebral aqueduct (1660); fissure of S. = lateral fissure of cerebral hemisphere (1641).

 

symphysis G. syn = with, together + physis = growth; a growing together; a line of fusion between two bones; a type of joint where bones are separated by fibrocartilage.

 

synapse G. syn = with, together + aptein = to touch, to join; point of contact; of junction for chemical/electrical tansmission between contiguous cells, usually neurones (Sherrington); cf. neuromuscular junction; postsynaptic membrane.

 

synapsis G. " ; the junction of two homologous chromosomes during meiosis, to form bivalents.

 

synarthrosis G. syn = together + arthrosis = of a joint; an immovable joint.

 

synchondrosis G. " + chondros = gristle + osis = state of; a junction of two bones by cartilage, usually the epiphyseal disc which gradually ossifies.

 

syncytiotrophoblast G. syn = together + kytos = hollow vessel + trophe = nourishment + blastos = germ; outer layer of epithelium covering chorionic villi of conceptus.

 

syncytium G. syn = together + kytos = hollow vessel; a single multinucleated mass of protoplasm with many nuclei.

 

syndesmosis G. " + desmos = bond, ligament + osis = state of; a junction of two bones by fibrous tissue, e.g., inferior tibiofibular joint.

 

synostosis G. " + osteon = bone; junction between two bones made of bone, e.g., bones of skull after sutures are complete (c. 26 years), junction of a diaphysis with an epiphysis when growth of a long bone has ceased.

 

synovia G. " + L. ovum = egg; like egg-white; fluid in a freely moveable joint (Paracelsus, c. 1520, first used the term for any watery fluids from any organ).

 

synovial membrane the lining of a joint space (other than the articular cartilage) which produces synovia.

 

taenia coli L. = a tape, ribbon + G. kolon = colon.

 

tanning F. tannin = acid substance in tree bark; to make brown.

 

tapetum L. = a carpet, from G. tapes; fibres of posterior part of corpus callosum; tapetum choroideae = iridescent layer in choroid of eye of certain animals, e.g, a cat's eye.

 

tarsus G. tarsos = a broad flat frame of wickerwork (for drying cheeses on); supporting plate of fibrous tissue in eyelid; skeletal frame of foot.

 

Tartrazine a synthetic yellow dye.

 

Tawara, Sunao. 1873-1952 Tokyo anatomist & pathologist; node of T. (1906) = atrioventricular node.

 

tectorial adj. L. tectum = a roof, a cover; tectum = roof of midbrain with the corpora quadrigemina; tectorial membrane = spiral gelatinous layer in cochlear duct covering the organ of Corti.

 

tegmen L. = a covering; cf. integument.

 

tela L. = a web, a fabric woven in a loom; of any web-like structure or layer; e.g., tela submucosa, tela choroidea (part of choroid plexus of ventricles of CNS); tela subcutanea.

 

telodendron (-ia) G. telos = end + dendron = tree; arborization at the end of an axon.

 

telophase G. " + phasis = a phase; final stage of somatic cell division when daughter cells separate.

 

tendon L. tendo = I stretch out; a tendon.

 

Tenon, Jacques-René. 1724-1816 Paris pathologist, surgeon & oculist; T.'s capsule = fascia bulbi = fascia of eyeball (1806).

 

terminal bar light microscopic term for junctional complex.

 

terminal web light microscopic term for intracellular protein filaments in apical cytoplasm of some epithelial cells.

 

testicle L. testiculus = testis, dim. L. testis = a witness (in Roman law, witness was legally admissible only if testicles present).

 

thalamus G. thalamos = a bed-chamber, a temple; pre-Vesalian use: thalami cordis = heart chambers; thalami penis = cavernous spaces; nuclear mass in lateral wall of 3rd ventricle.

 

Thebesius, Adam Christian. 1686-1732 Hirschberg (Silesia) physician; Leiden anatomist & pathologist; Thebesian valve = valve of coronary sinus (1708); T. veins = venae cordis minimae = small veins of the heart (1708).

theca L. = a sheath, an envelope, from G. theke; e.g., theca folliculi interna & externa of Graafian follicle.

 

theory G. theoreo = I contemplate, consider.

 

thrombocyte G. thrombos = a lump, a blood clot obstructing a vessel + kytos = hollow vessel; a platelet (non-nucleated element of blood).

 

thrombus (-i) L. from G. thrombos = a lump, a blood clot obstructing a vessel.

 

thymus G. thymos = thyme; also soul, vital force; lymphocyte-producing organ in thoracic mediastinum; sweetbread (origin is obscure: possibly resembling the buds of the thyme herb; or close to the heart, the seat of the soul).

 

thyroid G. thyreos = shield + -oeides = form; endocrine gland of neck, shaped like a shield (Galen c. 180 AD).

 

tigroid G. tigroeides = like tiger spots.

 

Tomes, John (Sir). 1815-1895 English dental surgeon; T.'s fibres = odontoblast processes continued into tubules in dentine.

 

tonofilaments intracellular protein filaments attached to desmosomes; cf. rete Malpighii.

 

tonsil L. tonsilla (origin obscure); mass of lymphocytes close to an epithelium, e.g., lingual tonsil, palatine tonsil (the "tonsil"), pharyngeal tonsil (adenoid, tonsil of Luschka, q.v.), tubal tonsil (of auditory tube); also cerebellar tonsil.

 

trabecula (-ae) L. = a little beam, dim. L. trabs, from G. trapes = beam, rib of a ship; 1. bundles or sheets of fibres giving internal support to an organ, 2. bony lamellae in cancellous bone.

 

trabeculae carnae L. = fleshy beams; thick bands of cardiac muscle on inner wall of ventricles.

 

trabecular meshwork = trabeculae at angle of anterior chamber of eye where aqueous humour flows = valvulae of Gerlach, q.v.

 

trachea G. tracheia = rough; respiratory tube which, in relaxed state, has corrugations due to cartilage rings.

 

tract L. tractus = a flock of wool drawn out for spinning, a long piece of pastry dough, a wide expanse; a bundle of nerve fibres in central nervous system.

 

tragus G. tragos = goat; cartilaginous projection anterior to external auditory meatus (which may carry a goat-beard-like tuft of hairs on its internal aspect).

 

trigeminal L. tres = three + geminus = twin, triplets; fifth cranial nerve with three main branches.

 

trophoblast G. trophe = nourishment + blastos = germ; outermost layer of chorion in a growing conceptus; with two sublayers (cytotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast).

 

tuba auditiva L. tuba = trumpet + auditio = hearing; trumpet-shaped auditory tube.

 

tuba uterina L. " + uterus = womb; salpinx; oviduct.

 

tubulus L. = a small pipe of more or less constant diameter (dim. L. tubus = pipe).

 

tunica (-ae) L. = a shirt, a sheath.

 

tunica adventitia L. " + adventicius = coming from abroad; outer layer of a tube.

 

tunica intima L. " + intima = innermost; inside layer of a tube such as a blood vessel.

 

tunica vaginalis L. " + vagina = a sheath; serous membrane surrounding sides and front of testis.

 

tympanic adj. G. tympanon = a tambourine, a drum; referring to ear-drum (Fallopius, q.v.).