Nicolás Vidal-Seguel; Ricardo Miranda-Krause; Bélgica Vásquez & Mariano del Sol

Learning anatomy can be difficult and not very motivating for the student due to its complex vocabulary. One of the initial challenges in the teaching- learning process of human anatomy is the approach to ge- neral terms for the relationship and comparison of anatomical structures in the human body. The objective of this study was to analyze the definitions of the terms «relation and comparison» present in classic anatomy books and included in Terminologia Anatomica, identifying those terms that can cause confusion in the teaching-learning process of human anatomy. The terms were analyzed in different human anatomy texts, in the Royal National Academy of Medicine of Spain and in Terminologia Anatomica (FIPAT, 2019). It was possible to verify the existence of 18 relationship and comparison terms, of which 6 (external, internal, superficial, deep, intermediate and middle) can be confusing within the teaching-learning process of human anatomy. Factors such as ambiguous usage, lack of clear definitions, differences between Terminologia Anatomica and common language, and inconsistency across different sources contribute to this possible confusion. It is necessary to address these difficulties through a precise teaching of Terminologia Anatomica and its proper application.

KEY WORDS: Terminologia Anatomica; Human anatomy; Learning; Etymology.

VIDAL-SEGUEL, N.; MIRANDA-KRAUSE R.; VÁSQUEZ, B. & DEL SOL, M. Use of relationship and comparison terms: An analysis of Terminologia Anatomica. Int. J. Morphol., 41(4):1177-1183, 2023.