#2-Strange names for body parts

Have you ever stubbed your hallux? And do you know where your axilla is? And if you stuck your nares under water, what would happen?

Amaze your friends with weird body knowledge! It’s called anatomy.

On this page, I have written down the strange (and true!) names for lots of parts of the body.

  1. iris—colored part of the eye.
  2. pinna—visible part of the ear.
  3. canthus—corners on either side of the eye, right where the upper and lower lids come together.
  4. glabella—flat area just above the nose, in between the eyebrows.
  5. naris—nostril (plural = nares).
  6. frenum—skinny band of tissue that connects the floor of the mouth to the underside of the tongue.
  7. gnathion—lowest point of the chin.
  8. pate—top of the head, crown.

  1. clavicle—collar bone
  2. axilla—armpit
  3. thorax—the part of the chest where the ribs are
  4. condyle—knuckle
  5. navel—bellybutton
  6. coccyx—tailbone (in the back)
  7. patella—kneecap
  8. hallux—big toe

You can comment on these weird names—and add your own—but please remember my parents, grandparents, and Aunt Brenda read all the comments, so don’t be rude or nasty.

Comments from my Readers & Friends

      • The golgi apparatus is actually inside every cell. It packages the ribosomes after they are made from rRNA.

        • Granpa says he used to do tricks on the golgi apparatus he had in his backyard when he was a kid. (Heehee)

    • True, but that’s a slang term…not a real medical or physiological term. My dad told me the word “physiological” (fizzy-o-LAH-ji-kul). It means “about the body.”

  7. Biceps, triceps, quadriceps (I think they’re just running out names for -ceps.)

  11. Metatarsals, metacarpals, patella, humerus, femur, ulna, radius, and gluetaus maximus.

  14. Epiglotis is another one. It’s a little flap of cartilage in your throat that keeps food from going into your lungs, or air from going into your stomach.