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In medical terminology there are many ways to refer to a limb, depending on the limb being discussed or if the subject is a general one and/or about arms and legs only. Some of the commonly used names for limbs and some of the roots, prefixes, and suffixes used to talk about them are:

Appendage or Appendicular refer to general things that "hang from" other things, such as referring to the arms or legs as appendages hanging from the main trunk of the body. It is also used to mean a supplemental/accessory part, such as a finger is an appendage of the hand. The Latin "appen" means "to hang upon," This is also the meaning of "appen-" when speaking of the appendix which hangs from the intestine. Interestingly, the "dix" refers to a finger. The appendix is a finger-like pouch hanging from the intestine.

Limb, which you used in the question, is a good term often used to refer in general to arms and legs. From Latin "limbus" for "edge".

They are also called Members. Member refers to a part of the whole, just like a member of a group. The leg or arm is a part of the whole body unless you dismember it. The prefix "dis-" means not, absent, remove, the opposite of, undo, or free from.

Digit for finger. Other components of words about fingers are: Dig-, digit-, -dactyl-, -dix, all refer to fingers and toes. Pterodactyl, for example, was used to describe the front feet of one type of dinosaur as having feather-like or wing-like "fingers" ("ptero"- is wing, feather, feather-like or wing-like in Greek).

Extremity is probably the most commonly used general word for arm or leg in US medical use and is usually further described as upper or lower extremity (abbreviated UE or LE) or can be right and left, as in RLE for right leg)

Brachi(o)- can be used as a part of a term to mean arm. For example brachial artery, the main artery in the arm, brachial plexus, a grouping of the nerves serving the arm.

Humer(o)- refers to the upper arm from the elbow to the shoulder, where the humerus bone is located.

Antecubital refers to the region in front of the elbow (where blood is often drawn for lab work). "Ante" means front, in front of, or before, cubital relates to the elbow or forearm.

Cubital Latin for elbow or forearm. (Also a unit of measure in Latin, cubit was equal to the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow, 43 to 56 cm.)

Genu- Knee, as in genuflect (kneel), "flect" refers to flexing or bending. If you bend your knees you will kneel or genuflect.

Chir(o)-, Cheir(o)- Hand in Greek. Chiropodist, originally a hand and foot doctor

Manu- Hand in Latin.

Ped-, Pes-, Pus-, Pod- Foot.

If you have a medical word and want to find a definition, but it is not in the medical dictionary as the whole word, a way to find the meaning by breaking the word down into a prefix, suffix, or root word in Medical Terminology is to type in the pieces of the word (usually each syllable) that are combined to make the medical term, one at a time, into a medical dictionary (or browser) search box. Type them using a dash to show the position you found the piece in the word to indicate that you want a definition for the piece and not for a different word spelled the same. For example using the term Cholecystectomy, for the first syllable, type "Chole-" (gall = bile). In the middle of the word, is "-cyst-" for bladder. And for the last part, type -ectomy, meaning removal of. Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder.

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12y ago
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12y ago

The medical term for arms and legs is limbs, with arms being upper limbs and legs being lower limbs.

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12y ago

Corporeal or somatic means pertaining to the body.

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11y ago

Perhaps dactylectomic, but I think that's the most obscure thing I've ever written in one of these answers. I can't imagine how you would need to use that word in a sentence.

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9y ago

Prosthetic Limb

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14y ago

Amputation

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Q: What is the medical term meaning pertaining to the amputation of a finger?
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What is the medical term meaning cutting a finger or toe?

Laceration is defined as a smooth, incision-like cut. Amputation is defined as a total removal of an appendage. Partial amputation is self explanatory. An avulsion is defined as a cut resulting in a flap of flesh. De-gloving is a complete removal of the soft tissues of an appendage.


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