Apophysial

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to an apophysis, which is a bony process or outgrowth projecting from a larger bone in the skeleton
2. Describing something connected with a bony protuberance or projection that extends beyond the main surface of a bone
3. Of or pertaining to a process of bone that juts out from the body of a larger skeletal structure

Etymology: Apophysial is a fairly plain technical formation: it takes the noun "apophysis", a bony outgrowth or projection from a larger bone, and adds the adjectival suffix "-al" to mean "relating to" such an outgrowth. The noun itself comes from the Greek "apophysis", meaning an offshoot or outgrowth, built from "apo-", meaning "away from", and "physis", meaning growth or nature, the same root that gives English "physics" and "physical". The adjective is a close variant of "apophyseal", which is the form Merriam-Webster records, and both are used in anatomical and medical writing to describe the parts of bones where processes grow out from the main body. The Oxford English Dictionary's listing of the "-ial" spelling shows that the two forms sit side by side in English.