Directional Anatomical Terms

The front surface.
Exp: The navel is on the anterior surface of the trunk.

The belly side. [Equivalent to anterior when referring to the human body]
Exp: The navel is on the ventral surface of the trunk.

The back surface.
Exp: The shoulder blade is located posterior to the rib cage.

The back surface. [Think the dorsal fin on a fish; its located on the fish's back]
Exp: The length of the back is dorsal to the length of the stomach.

The head. [Involving or in relation to, additionally]
Exp: The cranial, or cephalic, border of the pelvis is on the side towards the head rather than toward the thighs.

Above; at a higher level. [In the human body, toward the head]
Exp: In humans, the cranial border of the pelvis is superior to the thigh.

The tail. [Coccyx in humans, also known as the tailbone]
Exp: The hips are caudal to the waist.

Below; at a lower level. [In the human body, the further away from the head, or lower, something is in relation to another subject]
Exp: The knees are inferior to the hips.

Toward the body's longitudinal axis; toward the midsagittal plane. [Associate medial with middle]
Exp: The medial [middle] surfaces of the thighs may be in contact; moving medially [towards the middle] from the arm across the chest brings you to the sternum.

Away from the body's longitudinal axis; away from the midsagittal plane. [Think away from the middle]
Exp: The thigh articulates with the lateral [further from the middle, or navel] side of the pelvis; moving laterally [away from the middle of] from the nose brings you to the cheeks.

Toward an attached base. [Closer to the main attached feature]
Exp: The thigh is proximal [closer to the main attachment, in this case the pelvis] to the foot; moving proximally [closer to the main attachment, in this case the shoulder] from the wrist brings you to the elbow.

Away from an attached base. [Away from the main attached feature]
Exp: The fingers are distal [further from the main attachment, in this case the shoulder] to the wrist; moving distally [like the fingers in the previous statement, further from the shoulder] from the elbow brings you to the wrist.

At, near, or relatively close to the body surface. [Think further outward than, as in the skin is the most superficial part of the body and the furthest outwards to the surface one can get]
Exp: The skin is superficial to underlying structures.

Father from the body surface.
Exp: The bone of the thigh is deep [further inward from] to the surrounding skeletal muscles.

Orientation: Perpendicular to long axis.Directional Reference: Transversely or horizontally.Description: A transverse, or horizontal, section separates superior [towards the head] and inferior [towards the feet] portions of the body. A cut in this plane is called a cross section.