Mandibular etymologies

Key Points

• Understand the origin and history of some of our anatomical vocabulary.

• Appreciate how understanding etymology of words can make anatomy richer, more meaningful and enjoyable to learn.

Abstract

Many of us can remember how much our vocabulary grew as undergraduates and indeed has continued to grow as dental professionals. For many of us not trained in Latin and Greek we have often been too busy learning what the word means to understand why it means what it does. This article aims to clarify things a little. It explains where words relating to the mandible come from, why we use them now and also shows how they are related to other similar words in everyday use.

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