Four Books on Human Proportion

...nothing of the ancients would remain. However, we have also sought out with no small care nor over a short time the names by which we might render Dürer’s terms into Latin. As for those names we have applied, it would not be fitting for us to speak in the preface; rather, the judgment will rest with the readers. I would wish you to weigh their quality; if I satisfy you, there will be good hope regarding the judgments of others. Nevertheless, it would be fair, I think, for them to freely forgive our errors with similar goodwill, and for those who correct our work to put forward something better themselves. This will not only not offend us but will bring us pleasure along with utility. So that we hide nothing, we have placed the Latin names for the parts of the human body below, to which we added Dürer's German terms, so that it might be seen what we made from what.

Names of the parts of the human body mentioned in these books.

Fore-top of the head original Latin: Sinciput which the Greeks call bregma the top part of the skull. It is understood as the summit of the head, for which the ancients used the term "vertex" peak. The crown of the head.

Vertex the crown where the hair swirls in the middle of the skull. The hindmost whorl.

Back of the head original Latin: Occiput and occipitium. The back of the head above the neck.

Hairline literally: roots of the hair. Hair-growth. These are understood to be above the forehead and temples.

Forehead. The forehead.

Eyebrows. Eyebrows.

Eyelids. Eyelids.

Nose. The nose.

Nostrils. Nostrils.

Mouth-corner original Latin: Bucca. Mouth. For it seemed best to name the joining of the lips in the mouth thus, which the Greeks call synarmogēn a fitting together or symbolēn a meeting point.

Cheeks original Latin: Genae or malae. Also called "buccae." The cheeks.

Temples. Sides of the head.

Neck. Throat. Gullet. Nape. The neck.

Shoulder blades. Shoulder flesh.

Shoulders. Shoulder. And in the same place, it is noted that the shoulder bones protrude, that is, the heads inserted into the ōmokotylē the shoulder-socket, meaning the socket joints original Latin: acetabulis. The shoulder bones.

Collarbones original Latin: Iugula. Little hollow of the neck. This is to be understood as hē sphagē the hollow of the throat, that is, the pit in the middle of the collarbones. The Latins also called this the "iugulum."

Chest. The breast.

Wings original Latin: Alae or Armpits. Armpits. These are marked on both the front and back of the body.

Breasts. Breasts. Nipples. The nipples.

Below the breasts. Under the breasts. And in the same place, the lower chest is occasionally named.

Loins. Sides. Under the ribs. Where we are girded. The waist. The flanks.

Cavity of the hips, which stands above those hollows into which the head of the hip is inserted, which are the kotylai cups or sockets, that is, socket-joints. The Greeks clearly call them ischia hip joints. The hip area.

Top of the thigh or hip. The end of the hip. In some places, we have used "coxendices" hip-bones. Which however nearly...