Definition

The area of medicine that focuses on treating and preventing problems related to bones, muscles, joints, and ligaments.

Example

He decided to specialize in orthopedics to help patients recover from bone injuries.

Conversation

I heard you went to see a doctor about your knee.

Yeah, he specializes in orthopedics and really helped me out.

That's great to hear! Did he give you any exercises to do?

Definitely, he suggested some stretches to strengthen the muscles around the joint.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Orthopedics → It is formed from "ortho-" (from Greek "orthos", meaning straight or correct) and "paideia" (from Greek "pais", meaning child). The word refers to the branch of medicine that deals with the correction of deformities in children, particularly in the bones and joints.

Memory Tip

Think of 'straight' ('ortho-') and 'child' ('paideia') to remember that orthopedics is about correcting issues related to children's bones and joints.

Visually Confused Words