Learning Objectives
- Apply the rules of medical language to build, analyze, spell, pronounce, abbreviate, and define terms as they relate to the skeletal system
- Identify meanings of key word components of the skeletal system
- Categorize diagnostic, therapeutic, procedural, or anatomic terms related to the skeletal
system - Use terms related to the skeletal system
- Use terms related to the diseases and disorders of the skeletal system
The skeletal system is composed of bones, cartilage, and ligaments. It performs several functions, including supporting the body, protecting internal organs, producing blood cells, and storing/releasing minerals.[1]
This chapter will review common word components related to the skeletal system to assist learners in analyzing, building, and defining medical terms. Other terms, whose definitions cannot be easily built from word components, will be described in context based on the anatomy and physiology of the skeletal system and common diseases and disorders. Medical specialists, diagnostic tests, and procedures related to the skeletal system will also be discussed.
The term musculoskeletal system combines material from Chapter 13 and 14 and can be broken down like this:
- muscul/o- (combining form meaning muscles)
- skelet/o- (combining form meaning bones)
- -al (suffix meaning pertaining to)
Remember that a combining form is made up of both a word root and a combining vowel! This combined service is usually referred to as Ortho in healthcare.
View a supplementary YouTube video[2] on the skeletal system: The Skeletal System: Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology #19
- This work is a derivative of Anatomy & Physiology by OpenStax and is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Access for free at https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e ↵
- CrashCourse. (2015, May 18). The skeletal system: Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology #19 [Video]. YouTube. All rights reserved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDGqkMHPDqE ↵