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GLOSSARY of HISTOLOGICAL & MICRO-ANATOMICAL TERMS

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

ultrastructure the structure of the smallest elements, components of a cell or tissue as seen with the electron microscope.

 

ultratome special microtome for cutting ultrathin sections for electron microscopy.

 

umbilicus L. = navel, from G. omphalos.

 

uncus L. = a hook; uncinate process = hook-like part of pancreas.

 

ungual adj. L. unguis = a claw, talon, finger-nail.

 

ureter G. ouron = urine + tereo = I preserve; a tube carrying urine from kidney to bladder (Galen, c. 180 AD).

 

urethra G. ourethra = tube from bladder to exterior (Hippocrates).

 

urine G. ouron = urine.

 

uterus L. = womb (especially in pregnancy), from L. uter = a large goatskin bag used as a wine-skin.

 

utricle L. utriculus = a little womb, dim. L. uterus; 1. larger of two sacs in membranous labyrinth of inner ear; 2. utriculus prostaticus = sac in prostate.

 

uvea L. uva = grape; the middle vascular coat of the eye (when peeled out of the eye, the uvea resembles the empty shell of a peeled concord grape), includes choroidea, ciliary body and iris.

 

uvula L. = a little grape; pendulous posterior end of soft palate used to produce gutteral consonants (1695).

 

vacuole L. vacuum = an empty space; a clear space in cell cytoplasm.

 

vagina L. = a sheath, a scabbard (L. gladius = sword was a common Roman term for penis); cf. evagination, invagination.

 

vallate L. vallatus = walled, from L. vallum = a rampart; of largest lingual papillae, surrounded by groove & wall; cf. circumvallate.

 

valve L. valva = a fold, a leaf of a folding door.

 

van Gieson, Ira. 1865-1913 American histologist & bacteriologist; v. G.'s stain = a mixture of acid fuchsin in saturated picric acid staining collagen bright pink.

 

varicose adj. L. varicosus = like a twisted vein, from L. varix (-ices) = a twisted vein.

 

varicosity L. " ; 1. a dilatation in a vein; 2. a dilatation in a nerve fibre.

 

Varolio, Costanzio. 1543-1575 Bologna, Rome physician & anatomist; pons Varolii = pons of brainstem.

 

vas (-a) L. vas = a dish, a vessel.

 

vas nervi (vasa nervorum) L. " + nervi = of a nerve; blood vessels supplying a nerve fascicle.

 

vas rectus (vasa recta) L. " + rectus = straight; straight blood vessels in renal medulla.

 

vas vasi (vasa vasorum) L. " + vasi = of a vessel; blood vessels supplying wall of a blood vessel.

 

vascular adj. L. vasculum = a small vessel, dim L. vas.

 

vasopressin L. " + OF. presser = to press; hormone from pars nervosa of hypophysis increasing blood pressure.

 

Vater, Abraham. 1684-1751 Wittenburg anatomist, botanist & pathologist; ampulla of Vater = hepato-pancreatic ampulla at end of bile duct (1720); corpuscles of Vater-Pacini = lamellated corpuscles in skin; tubercle of Vater = greater duodenal papilla (1710).

 

ventral adj. L. venter = belly; bellywards.

 

ventricle L. ventriculus = a small belly, dim. L. venter; cavities of brain; largest two chambers of heart.

 

Verga, Andrew. 1811-1895 Milan psychiatrist; ventricle of V. = posterior extension of the cavity of the septum pellucidum; canal of V. = small tunnel in petrous temporal bone containing a vein.

 

Verhoeff, Frederick H. 1874-1968 Boston ophthalmologist; stain for elastic tissue.

 

vermiform L. vermis = worm + forma = shape.

 

Vernier Pierre. 1580-1637 Paris physicist; vernier scale.

 

Vesalius (Wesel), Andreas. 1514-1564 Flemish (studied at Louvain & Paris) anatomist of Padua, Bologna & Pisa; founder of scientific, topographical anatomy; conducted public dissections at Padua; criticised Galen; wrote De corporis humani fabrica (1543).

 

vesica L. = bladder.

 

vesicle L. vesicula = a little sac, blister or bladder; e.g., seminal vesicle.

 

vesicular adj. L. " ; like blisters; of pale dispersed chromatin in a nucleus, a vesiculated nucleus.

 

vestibule L. vestibulum = entrance hall (where one takes off L. vestes = garments); entrance to nose, mouth, larynx, inner ear, female reproductive system.

 

vibrissa (-ae) L. vibrare = to vibrate; hairs in nasal vestible which vibrate to air currents during snoring.

 

Vicq d'Azyr, Felix. 1748-1794 Paris physician & comparative anatomist; bundle of V. d'A. = mamillothalamic tract of diencephalon (1781).

Vidus Vidius (= Guido Guidii) 1500-1569 Paris physician, Pisa philosopher; Vidian nerve = nerve of pterygoid canal (1611).

 

Vieussens, Raymond de. 1641-1716; Montpellier, Paris physician; anulus of V. = ansa subclavia; limbus fossa ovalis; valve of V. = superior medullary velum.

 

villus (-i) L. = a hair, (? from L. pilus = a tangled mass of hair); a thin projection of the lining of the small intestine, which resemble the nap of a cloth.

 

Virchow, Rudolph. 1821-1902 German pathologist & politician involved in public healthg issues; a founder of German anthropological society; developed understanding of the cellular basis of pathological processes; Virchow-Robin spaces = perivascular spaces around arterioles and arteries of central nervous system.

 

visceral adj. L. viscera = body organs; as opposed to somatic structures.

 

viscus L. = any internal organ in a cavity, from L. visco = I make sticky.

 

vitelline adj. L. vitellus = a little calf, a term of endearment; the yolk of an egg (Celsus, c. 10 AD)

 

vitreous L. vitreus = glassy; gelatinous mass inside the eyeball with glassy transparency.

 

Volkmann, Alfred Wilhelm. 1800-1877 Dorpat & Halle physiologist; V.'s canals = oblique vascular channels in compact bone (1873); cf. Havers.

 

vomeronasal organ L. vomere = to vomit & L. vomer = a ploughshare (which throws the earth to either side like vomit) + nasus = nose; small tubular epithelial organ located on antero-inferior surface of nasal septum; organ of Jacobson, q.v.

 

vorticose adj. L. vortex = eddy, vortex; venae vorticosae = veins with whirl-like disposition around eyeball.

 

Waldeyer, Heinrich Wilhelm Gottfried. 1836-1921 Brelau & Berlin anatomist; W.'s fascia = rectal fascia (1899); W.'s organ = paradidymis; W.'s ring = ring of lymphatic tissue at junction of oro- and nasopharynx (1884); W.'s tract = tract of spinal cord white matter; eyelid sweat glands; neuron doctrine = theory that each neuron was a separate entity without structural continuity at a synapse (1891).

 

Weigert, Karl. 1843-1904 Frankfurt pathologist; stains for bacteria, elastin (1882), myelin, cell nuclei.

 

Westphal, Karl Friedrich Otto. 1833-1890 Berlin psychiatrist; nucleus of Edinger-Westphal = oculomotor nucleus (1885).

 

Wharton, Thomas. 1616-1673 London anatomist & physician; studied thyroid gland; W.'s jelly = embryonic connective tissue of umbilical cord (1656); W.'s duct = duct of submandibular gland (1656).

 

white matter parts of central nervous system where there are relatively large numbers of glistening-white myelinated fibres and few if any neurons; outer part of spinal cord; deep part of cerebrum and cerebellum.

 

white pulp the lymphoid tissue of the spleen; cf. Malpighian corpuscle.

 

whole mount a name for a histological preparation where the whole specimen is mounted or spread on the glass slide; e.g., w. m. of retina; w. m. of mesentery.

 

Winslow, Jacob Benignus. 1669-1760 Danish anatomist, Paris anatomist, renown teacher; named many muscles; foramen of W. = epiploic foramen (1732); pancreas of W. = uncinate process of pancreas.

 

Wirsung, Johann Georg. 1600-1643 (assassinated due to a quarrel of anatomy!); Padua prosector; duct of W. = main pancreatic excretory duct (1642).

 

Wolff, Caspar Friedrich. 1733-1794 St. Petersburg anatomist & physiologist, founder of modern embryology; against idea that embryo was preformed; Wolffian duct = mesonephric duct (1759); Wolffian body = mesonephros (1759).

 

Wolfring, Emilj F. von. 1832-1906 Polish ophthalmologist; glands of W. = accessory lacrimal glands.

 

working distance distance between front of microscope objective lens & upper surface of coverglass, with specimen in focus.

 

Worm, Olaus 1588-1654 Copenhagen classicist & anatomist; Wormian bones = tiny irregular bones in the cranial sutures (also known to ancient anatomists).

 

woven bone primary bone; a term for immature bone (formed by direct or indirect ossification) where the collagen and osteocytes are not organised into Haversian systems and interstitial lamellae.

 

xiphoid G. xiphos = a sword + -oeides = form of.

 

xylene G. xylon = wood; hydrocarbons from wood; a clearing agent.

 

Z-disc (or Z-band, Z-line) abb. for Zwischenscheibe Ge. Zwischenscheibe = a between-disc; dark disc in centre of I-band; end disc of a sarcomere; Dobbie's line; Krause's line.

 

Zeis, Eduard. 1807-1868 German surgeon; glands of Z. = sebaceous ciliary glands of eyelid.

 

Zeiss, Carl. 1816-1888 German optician; commercial development of light microscope; with Abbé, founded Zeiss optical manufacturing company

 

Zinn, Johann Gottfried. 1727-1759. Göttingen professor of Medicine, director Botanical Garden; anulus of Z. = common tendinous ring of orbit; zonule of Z. = ciliary zonule, q.v. = suspensory ligament of lens.

 

zona L. = a girdle, a marriage belt; e.g., in cortex of adrenal gland: z. fasciculata, q.v.; z. glomerulosa, q.v., z. reticulata, q.v.

 

zona pellucida L. zona = a girdle + perlucere = to shine through; refractile layer of glycoclayx surrounding ovum in a growing ovarian follicle.

 

zonula adherens (zonulae adherentes) L. zonula = a small girdle + adherens = sticking; component of junctional complex.

 

zonula occludens (zonulae occludentes) L " + occludens = ; component of junctional complex.

 

Zuckerkandl, Emil. 1849-1910 Graz, Vienna anatomist; bodies of Z. = aortic paraganglia = para-aortic masses of chromaffin tissue, q.v.

 

zygote G. zygoein = to yoke together; fusion of male and female germ cells.

 

zymogenic adj. G. zyme = leaven, ferment, sour dough + gennan = to produce; of the granules in glandular cells producing enzymes.