Greek language: analysis of the cardiologic anatomical etymology: past and present Idioma grego: análise da etimologia anatomocardiológica: passado e presente

Introduction: The Greek language, the root of most Latin anatomical terms, is deeply present in the Anatomical Terminology. Many studies seek to analyze etymologically the terms stemming from the Greek words. In most of these studies, the terms appear defined according to the etymological understanding of the respective authors at the time of its creation. Therefore, it is possible that the terms currently used are not consistent with its origin in ancient Greek words. Methods: We selected cardiologic anatomical terms derived from Greek words, which are included in the International Anatomical Terminology. We performed an etymological analysis using the Greek roots present in the earliest terms. We compared the cardiologic anatomical terms currently used in Greece and Brazil to the Greek roots originating from the ancient Greek language. We used RBCCV 44205-1387 DOI: 10.5935/1678-9741.20120050