Ligaments

Any ligament that strengthens or supports another ligament.

• Means curved or bow-shaped ligaments; they are located in the spine and
• assist in maintaining the erect position. (Also called ligamenta flava
• [plural], and ligamentum flavum [singular].)

• There are several types of collateral ligaments, including fibular,
• radial, tibial, ulnar, etc. These are basically ligaments that are not
• direct, but are supporting ligaments.

Coracoid means like a raven’s beak and is used to describe an area on the scapula. It is so named for its shape.

• Cruciate means shaped like a cross. There are different types of
• cruciate ligaments, including anterior, posterior, and lateral. They
• appear in many places in human anatomy, such as the knees, fingers, and
• toes.

Falciform means shaped like a sickle and appears near the sacral tuberosity as well as within the liver.

Inguinal is a term used to describe the groin area.

Interosseous means between bones and describes several different ligaments.

Longitudinal simply means lengthwise. It is used to describe any ligament that runs lengthwise.

Nuchal means pertaining to the neck.

• Triquetral means three cornered and appears in different places
• throughout the body. The prefix tri- should be familiar as meaning
• three.