- Femur
- The femur is the bone in the leg that extends from the hip to the knee. The femur constitutes the upper leg, that part of the leg above the knee. As compared to the lower leg which boasts two bones (the tibia and the fibula), the upper leg has only one bone, the femur, but a very large bone it is, the largest in the human body. The word "femur" is the Latin word for thigh and the femur is familiarly known as the thigh bone.
* * *1. SYN: thigh. 2. The long bone of the thigh, articulating with the hip bone proximally and the tibia and patella distally. [L. thigh]
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1) the proximal bone of the hind or lower limb that is the longest and largest bone in the human body, extends from the hip to the knee, articulates above with the acetabulum by a rounded head connected with the shaft of the bone by an oblique neck bearing a pair of trochanters for the attachment of muscles, and articulates with the tibia below by a pair of condyles called also thigh bone2) the segment of an insect's leg that is third from the body* * *
n.a long bone between the hip and the knee. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum of the hip bone. The greater and lesser trochanters are protuberances on which the gluteus and psoas major muscles, respectively, are inserted. The lateral and medial condyles articulate with the tibia and the concave grooved patellar surface accommodates the kneecap (patella).The narrowed end of the femur (femoral neck), which carries the head, is the commonest site of fracture of the leg in elderly women. Partial dislocation of the femoral epiphysis, the growth area of the upper end of the bone, leads to deformity of the head of the femur and pre-mature degeneration of the hip joint.* * *
fe·mur (feґmər) pl. femґora, femurs [L.][TA] 1. the bone that extends from the pelvis to the knee, being the longest and largest bone in the body; its head articulates with the acetabulum of the hip bone, and distally, the femur, along with the patella and tibia, forms the knee joint. Called also os femoris [TA alternative], and thigh bone. See also Plate 40. 2. official terminology for thigh.
Posterior view of right femur.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
