Becoming familiar with anatomical words and phrases will help you in your study of anatomy, kinesiology, and massage techniques. Many anatomical terms are derived from Greek and Latin. While these other languages may seem truly foreign, try to break each word into its roots, prefixes and suffixes. This will aid in understanding terms that may be confusing.

Root Words

Now, let’s look at the term brachiocephalicus. (Don’t worry about pronunciation!) It is a muscle. By looking for the two roots, you can already determine which two body parts it connects: the arm (brachi) and the head (ceph). Congratulations! You have learned your first muscle!