Plantar (pronounced plan-ter)
In
anatomy and zoology, of or relating to the sole of the foot.
1706:
From the Latin plantāris (pertaining
to the sole of the foot), from planta
(sole of the foot) from a nasalized form of the primitive Indo-European root pletə- or plat- (to spread) an extension of the root pele- (flat; to spread).
Related were the Sanskrit prathati
(spreads out), the Hittite palhi
(broad), the Ancient Greek platys
(broad, flat), the Lithuanian platus
(broad), the German Fladen (flat
cake), the Old Norse flatr (flat),
the Old English flet (floor,
dwelling) and the Old Irish lethan
(broad). The Latin planta may be analysed as plant + -ar. The –ar suffix was from Latin -āris
(of, pertaining to) and was appended to nouns to create adjectives. The -aris
suffix was a form of -ālis with
dissimilation of -l- to -r- after roots containing an l (the alternative forms
were -ālis, -ēlis, -īlis & -ūlis); it was used to form adjectives,
usually from noun, indicating a relationship or a "pertaining to". The exact origin of the Latin planta (which in addition to meaning (1)
“sole of the foot” could be used in the sense of (2) any vegetable production
that serves to propagate the species; a sprout, shoot, twig, sprig, sucker,
graft, scion, slip, cutting or (3) a young tree, a shrub that may be
transplanted; a set) is uncertain. It
was from either (1) the Proto-Italic plāntā,
from the primitive Indo-European pléh-n̥t-eh, from pleh-
(flat) or (2) the Proto-Italic
plānktā, from the primitive Indo-European
pl̥hnk or gteh,
from plehk- & plehg- (to strike, fast). In
anatomy, the derived terms include plantar fascia (the thick connective tissue
which supports the arch of the foot) and plantar fasciitis (a painful
inflammation of the plantar fascia. The
term plantar wart (apparently sometimes initially misunderstood by patients as “planter’s
wart”) describes a wart which occurs on the sole of the foot or the toes. The medical Latin is verruca plantaris. Plantar
is an adjective.
Plantar
flexion and dorsiflextion
Lindsay Lohan, plantaflexing.
Plantar
flexion refers to the movement of the foot when it is bent at the ankle away
from the body, accomplished by flexing muscles in the calf, ankle, and
foot. In normal range of human activity,
the range of motion is usually between 20-50o, a commons example
being depressing a car’s accelerator (throttle) pedal. Or even the mere act of
walking. The word “flexion” is used by
anatomists and others to describe the movement of many body parts. The notion of flexing at the knee or elbow is
well understood in everyday life and technically, flexion is the decreased
angle at a joint between two or more bones.
In the common act of bending the elbow from a straightened position, the
angle decreases between the humerus and the radius and ulna of the forearm. Plantar flexion is defined usually as the
decreased angle between the plantar side of the foot and the back of the tibia
at the tibiotalar joint (better known as the ankle) and can be visualized as
the bending of the sole of the foot down where the toes are moving down and
away from the body. Done deliberately in
exaggerated form it can feel unnatural but having one’s toes point downwards is
something inherent to human movement, the activities (as well as using a car’s throttle
pedal) including bending the foot during walking (propelling the mass of the body
forward as it pushes off the ground) and standing on one’s tip toes which
reaching for something in a high place.
Lindsay Lohan, dorsiflextion to the left, plantar flexion to the right.
The companion
movement is dorsiflexation, an upward bending which, although applied most
often to the foot, other body parts such as hands or digits (fingers) can be
said to dorsiflex. Dating from the early
nineteenth century, dorsiflexion was a creation which appeared first in the
literature of the early-modern science of anatomy. The construct was dorsi (from the Middle English dorsal
or dorsale from the Medieval Latin dorsālis (of or relating to the back)) +
flex (from the Latin flexiō (genitive
flexiōnis), from flectō (I bend, curve), from the Proto-Italic flektō, of uncertain origin and unknown in other Indo-European
cognates) + -ion (the Latin suffix denoting action or condition). The –ion suffic was from the Middle English
-ioun, from the Old French -ion, from the Latin -iō (genitive -iōnis). It was appended to a perfect passive
participle to form a noun of action or process, or the result of an action or
process. Dorsiflexion is also a movement associated with the
multiple joints. The definition is of an
action in which induces a decreased angle between the dorsal side of the body
part and the bone or bones that are proximal to the body. When one’s wrist is bent and the back of the
hand is moving towards the body, that is an act of dorsiflexion and when the
toes are pointed up or raised backward toward the body, this is also dorsiflexion
so, using the feet as an illustrative example, plantar flexion and dorsiflextion
can be understood as opposite movements at the ankle joint (both obviously being
associated with flexion). That means the essence of the difference is the
location of the foot doing the bending away from the ankle joint: If the toes
rise as the ankle bends, it’s dorsiflexion while if the toes tend downwards, it’s
a plantar flex.
Lindsay Lohan, plantar flexion to the left, dorsiflextion to the right.
Although the term (plantar flex) and word (dorsiflex) refer to variations of the same movement, the practice has always been to use a compound form only for the latter although the mechanics of the etymology is the same in that plantar flex references the sole of the foot and dorsiflex the back. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the upper surface of a foot (the dorsal surface) is, to an anatomist, the back, a convention of use more familiar when used as the “back of the hand”. Anatomists recommend imaging the dorsal fin of the shark as a memory trick, something associated with the “back side of an animal”. Consider a dorsal fin on a shark which is located on the back side of the shark. If the foot was a four-legged animal, the dorsal side would be the top of the foot. Likewise, if the hand was held out straight, the back side of the hand is called the dorsal side. Interestingly, by convention, despite the obvious etymological connections, dorsiflex is the universal form while plantarflex, although a correct alternative spelling, is rarely seen outside of technical literature.
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