-physis
Encyclopedia
The word morpheme
-physis (φύσις) occurs at the ends of some anatomical
names, usually of projecting parts of bones
, and in some names of animals (e.g. Coelophysis
). If with a Greek
preposition, as in e.g. X-physis, it means "a process
which sticks out in the direction X"; otherwise it means "form", "nature
". It is from Greek
φυσις from the verb φυω = "I bring forth", "I produce", "I make to grow".
In the name Coelophysis, the meaning as with a preposition has spread to a usage without a preposition; the name is a bahuvrihi
which was probably intended to mean "having hollow processes (on its bones)".
In terms of its medical application as relating to bones, "-physis" can also mean "to grow." Specifically, as the term pertains to musculoskeletal medicine and orthopedics, "physis" refers to the region of a long bone between the epiphysis and the metaphysis, or in lay terminology, the "growth plate".
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
-physis (φύσις) occurs at the ends of some anatomical
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
names, usually of projecting parts of bones
Process (anatomy)
In anatomy, a process is a projection or outgrowth of tissue from a larger body. The vertebra has several kinds of processes,such as: transverse process, prezygapophysis, postzygapophysis.-Examples:Examples of processes include:...
, and in some names of animals (e.g. Coelophysis
Coelophysis
Coelophysis , meaning "hollow form" in reference to its hollow bones , is one of the earliest known genera of dinosaur...
). If with a Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
preposition, as in e.g. X-physis, it means "a process
Process (anatomy)
In anatomy, a process is a projection or outgrowth of tissue from a larger body. The vertebra has several kinds of processes,such as: transverse process, prezygapophysis, postzygapophysis.-Examples:Examples of processes include:...
which sticks out in the direction X"; otherwise it means "form", "nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
". It is from Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
φυσις from the verb φυω = "I bring forth", "I produce", "I make to grow".
In the name Coelophysis, the meaning as with a preposition has spread to a usage without a preposition; the name is a bahuvrihi
Bahuvrihi
A bahuvrihi compound is a type of compound that denotes a referent by specifying a certain characteristic or quality the referent possesses. A bahuvrihi is exocentric, so that the compound is not a hyponym of its head...
which was probably intended to mean "having hollow processes (on its bones)".
In terms of its medical application as relating to bones, "-physis" can also mean "to grow." Specifically, as the term pertains to musculoskeletal medicine and orthopedics, "physis" refers to the region of a long bone between the epiphysis and the metaphysis, or in lay terminology, the "growth plate".