Metacarpophalangeal

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /met.əˌkɑː.pəʊ.fəˈlæn.d͡ʒi.əl/

Definitions

1. A type of joint found in the hand that connects the metacarpals to the proximal phalanges, supporting motion such as bending, straightening, and rotation
2. This joint serves as the articulation point between hand bones and finger bones, permitting flexion, extension, and some rotation during various hand functions
3. A joint in the hand that links the metacarpal bones to the first phalanx of each finger, facilitating movements like bending, extending, and rotating the digits

Etymology: The "metacarpophalangeal" joints are the knuckles at the base of your fingers, where the long bones of the palm (metacarpals) meet the first bones of the fingers (proximal phalanges). The word is a technical anatomical coinage built from two parts: "metacarpo-", from the Greek "meta" ("after" or "beyond") combined with "karpos" ("wrist"), describing the bones that lie beyond the wrist, and "phalangeal", from "phalanx", a Greek term for a line of soldiers that anatomists borrowed for the finger bones because they stand in a row. The word is therefore a modern construction, assembled from classical Greek roots rather than handed down from ancient anatomists. Greek and Roman physicians had no need for such a compound, and the name reflects the systematic naming of bones and joints that developed in European anatomy from the 18th and 19th centuries onward.