mediaal

Mediaal is a Dutch adjective meaning located toward the midline of the body or of a structure. It is used in anatomy, medicine, and biology to describe relative position and is the counterpart of lateraal (lateral). In most contexts, a structure that lies closer to the body's midline than another is described as mediaal.

The term is cognate with the English word medial and derives from the Latin medialis, meaning middle. In anatomical descriptions, mediaal direction helps specify relations between bones, organs, muscles, nerves, and vessels, for example the mediaal aspect of the femur or a mediaal surface of a tooth relative to its counterparts. In clinical writing, mediaal is used alongside other directional terms (anterior/posterior, proximal/distal) to communicate precise localization.

In some subfields, there are more specific terms; for example in dentistry the term mesiaal is commonly used to denote toward the midline of the dental arch, which may overlap with or be distinct from mediaal depending on language tradition.

See also: medial; lateral; anatomical directions.