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proximal (PROK-suh-muhl) - adj., closer to the point of attachment or observation.
That's the anatomic meaning, anyway -- there's also a dental (of a surface of a tooth, closer to another tooth) and linguistic (referring to closer to the speaker). The contrast word is distal, further from the point of attachment (though in linguistics, many languages make a three-way distinction so there's also medial). A possibly helpful diagram. Approximate is a closely related word, and proximate is even closer. Coined in the 1720s from Latin proximus, nearest, superlative of prope, near/close.
And that wraps up a week of medical terms -- next week's theme will be words that have made it to the front of my queue of words to post.
---L.
That's the anatomic meaning, anyway -- there's also a dental (of a surface of a tooth, closer to another tooth) and linguistic (referring to closer to the speaker). The contrast word is distal, further from the point of attachment (though in linguistics, many languages make a three-way distinction so there's also medial). A possibly helpful diagram. Approximate is a closely related word, and proximate is even closer. Coined in the 1720s from Latin proximus, nearest, superlative of prope, near/close.
And that wraps up a week of medical terms -- next week's theme will be words that have made it to the front of my queue of words to post.
---L.
