distal
[dis-tl]
- situated away from the point of origin or attachment, as of a limb or bone; terminal.Compare proximal.
- Dentistry. directed away from the sagittal plane or midline of the face, along the dental arch.Compare buccal(def 3), mesial(def 2).
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Origin of distal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for distal
Contemporary Examples
The distal aspect of her left humerus was sticking out of the front of her arm.
The distal muscles, those further away like the hands and feet, are less likely to be less affected.
The intermediate and distal phalanges of the index finger show contraction, as if the Palestinian Arab were squeezing something.
The Crime of Kufr Qaddoum: An EmergencyStandWithDavidMonitor Animal Rights Division ExposeEli Valley
March 29, 2012
Historical Examples
The third, fourth, and fifth are expanded and flattened at distal end.
The Beaked Whales of the Family ZiphidaeFrederick True
The nozzle of his bellows is fitted into the distal end of the pipe.
At the Court of the AmrJohn Alfred Gray
At the middle, or in the distal half, each spine bears a verticil of three strong, irregularly formed ramified branches.
On each spine six to nine branches, which are for the most part forked, the distal branches only being simple.
Inner cortical shell with six to ten chambers of nearly the same size and form; the distal chambers somewhat smaller.
distal
- anatomy (of a muscle, bone, limb, etc) situated farthest from the centre, median line, or point of attachment or originCompare proximal
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Word Origin
C19: from distant + -al 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for distal
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
distal
(dĭs′təl)- Anatomically located far from a point of reference, such as an origin or a point of attachment.
- Situated farthest from the middle and front of the jaw, as a tooth or tooth surface.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.