Anat Biol Anthropol.  2022 Sep;35(3):93-104. 10.11637/aba.2022.35.3.93.

On Anatomical Terminologies in the Index of the three Whole Body Figures of De Humani Corporis Fabrica Liber Primus

• Hur MS
• Oh CS

• KMID: 2535008
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11637/aba.2022.35.3.93

Abstract

It goes without saying that the influence of Andreas Vesalius and his book, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septum (Fabrica) on the development of modern anatomy is absolutely enormous. The book 1 of Fabrica composing of seven books deals with the osteology, and the famous three figures of whole body bones and index of the terminologies are at the last part of the book. The diverse languages in the index are first noticeable, which are not only Latin, the language of Fabrica, but old Greek, Hebrew, Arabic. The old Greek and Hebrew words are expressed by their own letters, but the Arabic words are indirectly expressed by Latin letters for their original phonations. While same terminologies are sometimes used for two different structures, several different terminologies are commonly used for one same structure, which implies the chaotic situation in anatomical terminology at those times. The terminologies in the index have been tabulated in this study, and the historical development of terminology of bones was discussed with reflecting the efforts of the precedent anatomists had poured into unification and settlement of anatomical terminologies.

Keyword

Vesalius; Fabrica; History of anatomy; Anatomical terminology