The human skeletal system is comprised of 206 bones. Many of the bones form moving joints. There are also several hundred miles of muscles, ligaments, and tendons. The bones provide the body structure but the ligaments and tendons provide the attachments necessary for the muscles to contract and relax.

The illustration above shows a few of the major bones in the human body. The illustration above is of an Appendicular Skeleton.  The appendicular skeleton normally includes the  arms, hands, legs, and feet. The Axial Skeleton (not shown) includes the head, chest, and pelvis. It includes everything except the arms, hands, legs, and feet.

The skeletal system obviously has its own medical terms. The chart below lists the root words for some of the medical terms you’re likely to encounter.

Get ready! Below is a list of common medical terms you’re likely to encounter for skeletal conditions, diagnoses, treatments, and procedures. We will include a printable version of the list later on this page..

The cranium or skull contains the eight cranial bones. These include the frontal bone, two parietal bones, two temporal bones, the occipital bone, the sphenoid bone, and the ethmoid bone.

The facial bones are all joined together except the mandible or lower jaw bone. Other facial bones include two nasal bones, two maxillae bones, two lacrimal bones, two zygomatic bones, two palatine bones, two inferior nasal concha bones, the vomer bone, and the hyoid bone.

The middle ear bones are often overlooked because they’re so tiny. These bones include the malleus, the incus, and the stapes. Obviously there are two pair of each bone, one for each ear.

The vertebral column or spinal column consists of 26 bones segments called vertebrae. The vertebrae are divided into five divisions known as cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum, and coccyx. The chart below further explains the five divisions of the spinal column

The thorax starts with the collarbone, which is technically called the clavicle The collarbone connects the sternum or breastbone to each shoulder blade (scapula.) Below the thorax are 12 pairs of ribs. These include 7 pairs of ribs directly attached to the sternum, 3 pairs of ‘false ribs,” and 2 pairs of floating ribs.

The hip bone is also called the pelvic girdle. This large bone supports the torso and joins with the femur (thigh bone) and sacrum. An adult pelvic bone consists of three pairs of bones fused together – the ilium, the ischium, and the pubis. The diagram below shows the pelvis of an adult male.

Hands and arms are classified as upper extremities. There are five bones in each arm and 27 bones in each hand. The bones in the arm include the clavicle, the scapula, the humerus, the ulna, and the radius. The bones in the hand include the scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, and hamate. The bones in the fingers include the metacarpus, proximal phalanges, intermediate phalanges, and distal phalanges. The diagram below shows the bones in a hand.

Since the hands and arms are referred to as the upper extremities, it doesn’t take much to surmise what legs and feet are called. Legs and feet are classified as lower extremities. There are six bones in the leg and 26 bones in each foot. The bones in the leg include the hip bone (consisting of the fused ilium, ischium and pubis), pelvis, femur, patella (knee cap), tibia, and fibula. The bones in the foot include the calcaneus, talus, navicular, medial cuneiform, lateral cuneiform, metatarsus, sesamoid, and cuboid. The bones in the toes include the proximal phalanges, intermediate phalanges, and distal phalanges.