Terms Used To Describe Skeletal Structures

Front 1

Condyle

Back 1

Rounded process that usually articulates with another bone

Front 2

Crest

Back 2

Narrow, ridge like projection

Front 3

Epicondyle

Back 3

Projection situated above a condyle

Front 4

Facet

Back 4

Small, nearly flat surface

Front 5

Fissure

Back 5

Cleft or groove

Front 6

Fontanel

Back 6

Soft spot in the skull where membranes cover the spaces between bones

Front 7

Foramen

Back 7

Opening through a bone

-usually serves as a passageway for blood vessels, nerves or ligaments

Front 8

Fossa

Back 8

Relatively deep pit or depression

Front 9

Fovea

Back 9

Tiny pit or depression

Front 10

Head

Back 10

Enlargement on the end of a bone

Front 11

Linea

Back 11

Narrow ridge

Front 12

Meatus

Back 12

Tubelike passageway within a bone

Front 13

Process

Back 13

Prominent projection on a bone

Front 14

Ramus

Back 14

Branch or similar extension

Front 15

Spine

Back 15

Thorn-like projection

Front 16

Sulcus

Back 16

Furrow or groove

Front 17

Suture

Back 17

Interlocking line of union between bones

Front 18

Trochanter

Back 18

Relatively large process

Front 19

Tubercle

Back 19

Knoblike process

Front 20

Tuberosity

Back 20

Knoblike process usually larger than a tubercle

Front 21

Sinus

Back 21

Cavity within a bone