Basic Medical Terminology - V Trivia Quiz

Answer: vein

Blood is carried around the body in a series of blood vessels. Veins are defined as blood vessels that carry blood towards the heart. All veins, except the pulmonary vein, carry deoxygenated blood. The word vein is derived from the Latin "vena", meaning blood vessel.

The word parts -ven- and ven/o are found in words pertaining to veins, such as venule (a very small vein), venepuncture (the puncturing of a vein), venesection (the surgical opening of a vein) and intravenous (into or within a vein).

Answer: life

The Latin word "vita" means life. It is used in words such as vital, vitality and vitamin. A vitamin is defined as a substance that is required, in very small amounts, for healthy growth and development, that cannot be made by the body and therefore must be included in the diet.

Answer: nasal bone

Many of the bones of the human body were named because they reminded early anatomists of everyday items, particularly things such as tools and household utensils. Vomer is the name given to the bone that forms part of the nasal septum. Vomer is Latin for "ploughshare" and was given the name due to the wedge shape of this bone.

Answer: vessel

In Latin "vas" and "vasa" mean "vessel" and generally refers to any tube or duct that conveys a substance from place to place within the body. It is most commonly used in relation to blood vessels but can also refer to other types of vessels, such as the lymph vessels and the vas deferens (which carries semen). Vascular and vasectomy are common examples of medical terms which utilise this word part.

Answer: belly

The medical term ventral comes from the Latin "venter", meaning belly, stomach, and appetite. Ventral is generally used as an anatomical term meaning towards the front, anterior or abdominal side of the body. The opposite is dorsal (towards the back).

Answer: backbones

The word part vertebr/o relates to the bones which make up the spine and is derived from the Latin "vertebra" meaning a joint of the spine, which in turn is derived from "vertere", meaning to turn or tilt, a reference to the fact that the bones of the spine allow the body to twist, bend and turn.

There are 33 vertebrae which make up the human spine (singular = vertebra, plural = vertebrae).

Answer: virus

A virus is a minute particle that is capable of causing disease in a living organism (plant, animal or bacterium) by replicating within its host's cells. Viruses are smaller than bacteria and are too small to be seen under an ordinary light microscope.

The name virus comes from the Latin word "virus" meaning poison or slime. The modern usage of the term virus to refer to an infectious agent was coined by the Dutch microbiologist Martinus Beijerinck from his work with the tobacco mosaic virus (which infected tobacco plants).

He thought viruses were liquid in nature as they were able to pass through filters and were therefore a type of poison.

Answer: urinary bladder

The Latin word "vesica" means bladder, blister or sac. Words which utilise this word part may refer to the urinary bladder or to skin blisters (because both are fluid-filled sacs). Examples of terminology include vesical (pertaining to the urinary bladder), vesico-ureteric reflux (the back-flow of urine from the bladder into the ureters, the tubes which carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder), vesicant (an agent that causes blistering of the skin), and vesicofixation (a surgical procedure to fix the bladder into position, usually because of a prolapse).

A vesicle in anatomy can be any one of a number of small pouches in various organs; in dermatology, it refers to a very small skin blister.

Answer: glassy

Vitreous means "glasslike" and comes from the Latin word "vitrum" meaning glass. The most common usage includes the medical terms vitreous humour and in vitro fertilisation. Vitreous humour is the glassy or transparent jelly-like substance that fills the chamber behind the lens of the eye and forms the bulk of the eyeball.

"In vitro" means "in glass" and refers to biological processes that are made to occur outside the body, traditionally in a test tube; for example, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) as a means of fertilising an egg outside of the body and implanting it in the uterus to achieve pregnancy. Babies born by the IVF method are sometimes referred to as "test tube babies". When fertilisation occurs inside the body, it is described as "in vivo", which means "within the living".

Answer: poison

Latin "venenum" means poison and gives us the word venom. Although we often use the words toxin, venom and poison as synonyms, they all have slightly different meanings. Toxin refers to a poison of plant or animal origin, and venom refers to poisons produced by animals that are typically injected into the body. Poison is a more general term which refers to any substance that is capable of causing illness or death, and thus includes minerals and chemical substances not produced by plants or animals.

The method of delivery is also a factor - venom must be injected to be effective, whereas toxins or poisons can come into contact with skin, or be inhaled or ingested.