Pertaining to the middle of the body is described by which term?

• A. Medial
• B. Metacarpus
• C. Metatarsal
• D. Navicular

Answer: (A)

Medial describes something toward the midline of the body—the imaginary line that splits the body into left and right halves. So when a structure is described as medial, it lies closer to that midline than another structure, with the opposite term being lateral (away from the midline).

The other terms refer to specific bones rather than directions. Metacarpus are the hand bones between the wrist and fingers, metatarsal bones are in the foot, and the navicular is a particular foot bone. None of these indicate position relative to the body’s midline, which is why they aren’t the correct choice for describing something pertaining to the middle.