Toledo School of Translators and their influence on anatomical terminology

Abstract

Translation facilitates transmission of knowledge between cultures. The fundamental transfer of anatomic terminology from the Ancient Greek and Islamic Golden Age cultures, to medieval Latin Christendom took place in the so-called Toledo School of Translators in the 12th–13th centuries. Translations made in Toledo circulated widely across Europe. They were the foundation of scientific thinking that was born in the boards of first universities. In Toledo, Gerard of Cremona translated Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine, the key work of Islamic Golden Age of medicine. Albertus Magnus, Mondino de Luzzi and Guy de Chauliac, the leading authors of anatomical Latin words in the Middle Ages, founded their books on Gerard’s translations. The anatomical terms of the Canon retain auctoritas up to the Renaissance. Thus, terms coined by Gerard such as diaphragm, orbit, pupil or sagittal remain relevant in the current official anatomical terminology. The aim of the present paper is to bring new attention to the highly significant influence that the Toledo School of Translators had in anatomical terminology. For this, we shall review here the onomastic origins of a number of anatomical terms (additamentum; coracoid process; coxal; false ribs; femur; panniculus; spondylus; squamous sutures; thorax; xiphoid process, etc.) which are still used today.