The root term [-lapar-] term is Greex, and although today we use it to mean "abdomen", it actually means "flank" or "loins".

In its pure etymological meaning the root term [lapar], as in "laparotomy" or "laparoscopy" should be used to denote a surgical action in only two of the abdominal regions, the right and left lumbar regions (or flank regions) denoted in the accompanying image.

The first use of the term [-lapar-] referring to the whole of the abdominal region was in January, 1878 by Thomas Bryant, FRCS in his book "A Manual for the Practice of Surgery" using the term [laparotomy] to describe an "incision in the abdomen". Other terms used to denote the abdominal region are "ventral", and of course, "abdominal".

• Laparotomy: the suffix [-otomy] means to "open" or "to cut", the term means then " to cut of to open the abdomen"
• Laparoscope: an instrument used to view into the abdomen
• Laparoscopy: the act of using a laparoscope
• Laparostomy: an unusual procedure where the abdomen is not closed, but left partially open (but protected) so that the surgeon can come back periodically to perform an abdominal "lavage" to manage an intractable abdominal sepsis
• Laparorrhaphy: the suffix [-orrhaphy] means "to repair". Refers to the repair or closure of a laparotomy

Abdominal regions and their content

The etymology of this word arises from two Latin words; [cribrum], meaning "a sieve" and [forma], meaning "shape" or "shaped-like". The word [cribriform] means then "sieve-like" or "perforated with a large number or holes".

There are places in the body where the term applies. Examples are the cribriform plate (lamina cribrosa), a sieve-like region found in the superior aspect of the ethmoid bone (see accompanying image) , described in detail by Gabrielle Fallopius.  The olfactory nerves, extensions of the olfactory, bulb pass through the cribriform plate on their way to the olfactory epithelium, an area of the mucosa in the superior aspect of the nose. Another is the cribriform fascia (Hesselbach's fascia) on the anterosuperior aspect of the thigh through which passes the greater saphenous vein and other structures.

Images courtesy of www.bartleby.com
Click on the image for a larger version. For more information on the ethmoid bone click here

From the Latin [vena], meaning "vein". Some early authors postulated that the term derivates from the Latin word [venio] meaning "to come", because the blood in the veins "comes in" to the heart. There are two root terms meaning "vein", the first is the Latin derivated [-ven-], as in the terms venous and intravenous. The second root term is Greek [-phleb-], as in the terms phlebectomy, phlebotomy, and phlebotomist. Peripheral veins have internal one-way valves, while most of the central veins (in the trunk) do not present with valves. Failure of a peripheral venous valve can lead to dilation of the vein, condition called a varix.

• Venous: pertaining to a vein
• Intravenous: inside or within a vein
• Phlebectomy: removal of a vein
• Phlebotomy: to open a vein

The term [carotid] is Greek and means "to sleep", "to stupefy", or "to put to sleep". This arises from the observed fact that compression of the large arteries in the neck caused animals to fall asleep (Rufus of Ephesus c.100BC). Andrea Vesalius proposed the name "soporalis arteriae", but the Greek term [carotid] is what we use today. 

The carotid arterial system is bilateral. On the right side, the right common carotid artery arises from the brachiocephalic trunk, while on the left side the left common carotid artery arises from the aortic arch. The common carotid artery divides into an external and an internal carotid artery. The internal carotid artery presents a dilation close to its origin, the carotid sinus, and then heads superiorly to enter the carotid canal of the temporal bone. The internal carotid artery does not give any branches in the neck region and ends providing important branches to the eye and the arterial circle of Willis, which supplies part of the brain.

The external carotid ends giving origin to two arteries, the superficial temporal artery and the maxillary artery. The external carotid artery gives off six named branches:

• Superior thyroid artery
• Lingual artery
• Facial  artery
• Ascending pharyngeal artery
• Occipital artery
• Posterior auricular artery