Nomina Anatomica

Nomina Anatomica (NA) was the international standard on human anatomic terminology from 1955 until it was replaced by Terminologia Anatomica in 1998.

In the late nineteenth century some 50,000 terms for various body parts were in use. The same structures were described by different names, depending (among other things) on the anatomist’s school and national tradition. Vernacular translations of Latin and Greek, as well as various eponymous terms, were barriers to effective international communication. There was disagreement and confusion among anatomists regarding anatomical terminology.