What is the medical term for movement away from?

Answer 1

Abduction is an anatomical term describing movement of a limb or other body part, and it specifically describes movement away from the midline or the median plane. When the fingers of your opened hand spread outward, they move away from the neutrally positioned 3rd digit, this is abduction of the fingers. When you bring your arm up laterally from you side within the coronal or frontal plane, you are abducting your shoulder. The same goes for bringing your leg out laterally within the coronal plane.

Bending your trunk or head laterally within the coronal plane away from the midline is not termed abduction. In this case you are performing lateral flexion or lateral bending.

The opposite of abduction is adduction, which means to move a limb or other part of the body toward the midline.

Answer 2

Abduction is the medical term meaning movement away from the midline of the body. The opposite is adduction.