Carpal and tarsal bone nomenclature

Historical names of the carpal and tarsal bones

Modern term: Carpal bones	Common historical terms
Scaphoid	navicular; carpal navicular; os naviculare manus
Lunate	semilunar; lunar; os lunatum
Triquetrum	cuneiform; pyramidal; triangular
Pisiform	pisiform
Trapezium	greater multangular; multangulum majus
Trapezoid	lesser multangular; multangulum minus
Capitate	os magnum; capitate

Modern term: Tarsal bones	Common historical terms
Talus	astragalus
Navicular (foot)	scaphoid; tarsal scaphoid; os naviculare pedis
Medial cuneiform	internal / first cuneiform
Intermediate cuneiform	middle / second cuneiform
Lateral cuneiform	external / third cuneiform
Calcaneus	calcaneum; os calcis

Chronology of terminology

Date	Terminological development
1543	Vesalius largely numbered the carpal bones rather than using the modern individual names.
1653	Michael Lyser supplied names for the carpal elements; several subsequently persisted in altered form.
1855	Jakob Henle promoted systematic, non-eponymous anatomical terminology and introduced/reinforced several names that anticipate modern usage.
1895	Basle Nomina Anatomica (BNA) formally codified about 4,500 Latin anatomical terms from a chaotic pool of tens of thousands of synonyms.
1933	Birmingham Revision (BR) produced an English-oriented revision of the BNA; importantly for us, it preferred scaphoid over naviculare manus and trapezium/trapezoid over multangulum majus/minus.
1935	Jena Nomina Anatomica (INA) introduced a more radical revision, including use of the erect posture as the reference position; it was not widely accepted internationally.
1955	Paris Nomina Anatomica (PNA/NA) established the basis of the modern international nomenclature and was subsequently revised in 1960, 1965, 1966, 1977 and 1980.
1989	O’Rahilly notes that modern terminology had largely settled around the familiar carpal and tarsal names, with many historical synonyms eliminated.

Pre-1895 – multiple national and author-specific anatomical names coexist.

1895 – Basle Nomina Anatomica (BNA) attempts international standardisation. The wrist includes os naviculare manus, os lunatum, os triquetrum, os pisiforme, os multangulum majus, os multangulum minus, os capitatum, and os hamatum.

1918 – Gray’s Anatomy snapshot — English terminology still uses navicular, lunate, triangular, greater multangular, lesser multangular, capitate and hamate for the carpals. The foot bone is simultaneously described as the navicular or scaphoid bone.

1940s – Later editions of Gray’s increasingly favour scaphoid, trapezium and trapezoid rather than navicular and the multangular terminology.

1955 – Paris Nomina Anatomica (PNA) — os scaphoideum formally replaces os naviculare manus, explicitly to eliminate duplication between hand and foot.

1998 – Terminologia Anatomica consolidates the modern international terminology: scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate and hamate in the wrist; navicular in the foot.

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References

• His W. Die anatomische Nomenclatur. Nomina anatomica. Verzeichniss der von der Commission der Anatomischen Gesellschaft festgestellten, 1895
• Eycleshymer AC. Anatomical names : especially the Basle nomina anatomica (“BNA”), 1917
• Anatomical Nomenclature. Nature 1918; 101: 130
• Kopsch F. Nomina anatomica; vergleichende Übersicht der Basler, Janaet und Pariser Nomenklatur, 1957
• O’Rahilly R. Anatomical terminology, then and now. Acta Anat (Basel). 1989;134(4):291-300. 
• Kachlik D, Bozdechova I, Cech P, Musil V, Baca V. Mistakes in the usage of anatomical terminology in clinical practice. Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. 2009 Jun;153(2):157-61.
• Pretterklieber ML. Nomina anatomica-unde venient et quo vaditis? Anat Sci Int. 2024 Sep;99(4):333-347.