metacarpophalangeal joint
1
8.8
- noun
- /ˌmɛtəˌkɑrpoʊfəˈleɪndʒiəl dʒɔɪnt/
- Specialized
:
articulación metacarpofalángica
- The doctor examined the swelling in the patient's metacarpophalangeal joint.
Examples
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The metacarpophalangeal joint connects the finger bones to the hand.
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There were no significant differences between the operated and nonoperated hands at a mean follow-up of 86 months, except for significantly reduced flexion in the metacarpophalangeal joint.
Academic text (2011) -
Hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, and ankles are commonly affected symmetrically, and sufferers present with pain in the metacarpophalangeal joints of the hands or metatarsophalangeal joints of the feet.
Academic text (2015) -
Injuries to the metacarpophalangeal joint can cause pain in the hand.
Synonyms
134
1.8
A joint on a finger that sticks out when you make a fist
The place on a finger where two bones meet, visible when making a fist
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term is fully compositional: 'metacarpophalangeal' (pertaining to metacarpals and phalanges / hand and finger bones) combined with 'joint' (a point where bones articulate) yields the meaning 'the joint between a metacarpal and a phalanx.' Although medical and technical, the sense directly follows from the constituents and from common medical compounding patterns found across languages, so a learner who knows the parts can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Metacarpophalangeal joint is the name for the joint where a hand bone (the metacarpal) meets the first bone of a finger (the phalanx). That's why it refers to the 'knuckle' at the base of the finger.