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Joint movements study sheet

The movement terms in pairs, with the joints involved and a memory hook for each: abduction and adduction, flexion and extension, pronation and supination, inversion and eversion, dorsiflexion and plantar flexion and more. Then the joint classes and the six synovial joint types. Free, and for study only.

  • Movement terms in pairs
  • Matching exercise (10 terms)
  • 20 practice questions
  • No sign-up needed
Start with the terms

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Part 1 · Movement terms

Movement terms in pairs

Each term sits beside its opposite, with the joints involved, an everyday picture and a memory hook. Turn on self-test mode to cover the meanings and check yourself one term at a time.

Abduction vs adduction

Abduction

Moving a limb sideways, away from the midline of the body. Spreading the fingers or toes apart is abduction too. For the thumb, abduction is the forward movement that brings it to a perpendicular position.

Adduction

Bringing the limb back toward the midline, or across it. Bringing the fingers or toes together is adduction too.

Where:
Seen at condyloid, saddle and ball-and-socket joints: for example the shoulder and hip (ball-and-socket), the wrist and knuckles (condyloid) and the base of the thumb (saddle).
Picture it:
Jumping jacks. The arms and legs swing out to the sides (abduction) and back in (adduction).
Memory hook:
ABduct: the limb goes AWAY from the body. ADduct: you ADD the limb back to the body.

Flexion vs extension

Flexion

In a limb, bending a joint so the angle between the bones gets smaller. In the neck or trunk, bending forward. Knee flexion brings the foot toward the back of the thigh; hip flexion lifts the thigh forward and up.

Extension

Straightening the joint so the angle between the bones gets bigger, or moving back from a flexed position. In the neck or trunk, straightening up or bending backward.

Where:
Hinge, condyloid, saddle and ball-and-socket joints of the limbs, for example the elbow, knee and hip; in the neck and trunk, the vertebral column.
Picture it:
A biceps curl. Lifting the weight toward the shoulder flexes the elbow; lowering it extends the elbow.
Memory hook:
FLEXion FOLDS the joint, as when you flex your arm. EXtension EXpands the angle and straightens it out.
Related:
Hyperextension is extension past a joint’s normal range of motion. Lateral flexion is bending the neck or trunk to the right or left, in the coronal plane.

Pronation vs supination

Pronation

Turning the forearm so the palm faces backward. The radius rotates at the proximal radioulnar joint, and the radius and ulna form an X-shape.

Supination

Turning the forearm so the palm faces forward. This is the forearm in anatomical position: the radius and ulna lie parallel. The radius rotates at the proximal radioulnar joint, a pivot joint.

Where:
The proximal radioulnar joint of the forearm, a pivot joint: the radius rotates.
Picture it:
Scooping up soup with a spoon is a supination movement; turning the palm back the other way, to face backward, is pronation.
Memory hook:
SUPination: palm forward, like scooping SOUP. PROnation: palm backward, like POURing it out, and the bones form an X.

Inversion vs eversion

Inversion

Turning the foot so the sole angles inward, toward the midline. The foot has a greater range of inversion than eversion, and these movements help stabilize the foot on an uneven surface.

Eversion

Turning the foot so the sole angles outward, away from the midline. The range is smaller than for inversion.

Where:
The plane joints among the tarsal bones of the back of the foot (the intertarsal joints).
Picture it:
Standing on the outer edge of your foot, sole turned in toward the other foot, is inversion. Rolling onto the inner edge, sole turned out, is eversion.
Memory hook:
INversion: the sole turns IN. Eversion: the sole turns out and Exits, away from the midline.

Dorsiflexion vs plantar flexion

Dorsiflexion

Lifting the front of the foot so the top of the foot moves up toward the shin (the anterior leg).

Plantar flexion

Pointing the toes down, or lifting the heel off the ground while the toes stay down.

Where:
The ankle, a hinge joint.
Picture it:
Lifting your foot off a gas pedal is dorsiflexion. Pressing the pedal down, or rising onto tiptoe, is plantar flexion.
Memory hook:
DORSum is the top of the foot: dorsiflexion brings the top up toward the shin. PLANTar is the sole: PLANT your toes into the ground, like a dancer rising onto the toes.

Protraction vs retraction

Protraction

Moving the shoulder blade (scapula) forward; or moving the lower jaw (mandible) forward.

Retraction

Pulling the scapula backward and in (posteriorly and medially) toward the vertebral column; or pulling the lower jaw backward.

Where:
The scapula and the mandible.
Picture it:
Reaching forward to push a shopping cart protracts the shoulder blades. Squeezing them together behind you retracts them.
Memory hook:
PROtraction: PROceed forward. REtraction: REtreat back.

Elevation vs depression

Elevation

Moving the scapula and shoulder upward; or moving the mandible upward, which closes the mouth.

Depression

Moving the scapula and shoulder downward; or moving the mandible downward, which opens the mouth.

Where:
The scapula and the mandible.
Picture it:
Shrugging your shoulders up is elevation; letting them drop is depression. Opening your mouth is depression of the jaw; closing it is elevation.
Memory hook:
An ELEVATOR goes UP. You DEPRESS a button to push it DOWN.

Medial vs lateral rotation

Medial (internal) rotation

Turning a limb so its front (anterior) surface moves toward the midline of the body. It can only occur at the multiaxial shoulder and hip joints.

Lateral (external) rotation

The opposite turn, moving the front surface of the limb away from the midline.

Where:
The shoulder and hip (ball-and-socket joints). Rotation also happens at pivot joints: the head turns side to side as the atlas (C1) rotates on the axis (C2), whose upward-pointing dens fits against the inner side of the atlas, at the atlantoaxial joint, and the radius rotates in pronation and supination.
Picture it:
Arm at your side, elbow bent to a right angle: swinging the hand in toward your belly is medial rotation; swinging it out is lateral rotation. Shaking your head “no” is rotation at the atlantoaxial joint.
Memory hook:
Medial: toward the Middle. Lateral: out to the side.

Circumduction

Circumduction

A circular movement of a limb, made by the sequential combination of flexion, abduction, extension and adduction at a joint.

Where:
Biaxial condyloid and saddle joints and multiaxial ball-and-socket joints; for example the wrist and knuckles (condyloid), the base of the thumb (saddle) and the shoulder and hip (ball-and-socket).
Picture it:
Arm circles in a warm-up. The shoulder stays put while the hand draws a circle in the air.
Memory hook:
CIRCUMference: the limb draws a circle.

Opposition vs reposition

Opposition

The thumb movement that brings the tip of the thumb into contact with the tip of a finger.

Reposition

Returning the thumb to its anatomical position, next to the index finger.

Where:
The first carpometacarpal joint, the saddle joint at the base of the thumb.
Picture it:
Making an “OK” sign, thumb tip to index fingertip, is opposition. Flattening the hand back out is reposition.
Memory hook:
OPPOSition sets the thumb OPPOSITE a finger. REposition REturns it to its place.

More movement terms from the same chapter

Lateral flexion
Bending the neck or trunk to the right or left side, in the coronal plane, at the vertebral column.
Hyperextension
Extension past a joint’s normal range of motion.
Lateral and medial excursion
Lateral excursion slides the lower jaw to the right or left, away from the midline; medial excursion brings it back to the middle.
Superior and inferior rotation
Movements of the scapula. In superior rotation the glenoid cavity (the shoulder socket) moves upward as the medial end of the scapular spine moves downward; inferior rotation occurs during limb adduction.

Part 2 · Joint classes

How joints are classified

Two schemes are used. The structural scheme names what joins the bones; the functional scheme says how much the joint moves. How the two schemes line up: fibrous and cartilaginous joints are synarthroses or amphiarthroses, depending on the joint; synovial joints are always diarthroses. (ch. 9.1)

Fibrous joints

The bones are held together by fibrous connective tissue. There is no joint cavity, and the gap between the bones can be narrow or wide. (ch. 9.2)

  • Suture

    The fibrous joint that joins the bones of the skull to each other.

    Examples: The skull bones, except for the mandible. In a newborn, the broad areas of connective tissue between skull bones are called fontanelles.

    Synarthrosis: little or no movement.

  • Syndesmosis

    Two parallel bones joined by fibrous tissue: a narrow gap bridged by ligaments, or a wide gap filled by a sheet called an interosseous membrane.

    Examples: The shafts of the radius and ulna in the forearm; the shafts of the tibia and fibula in the leg; the distal tibiofibular joint just above the ankle.

    Amphiarthrosis: a little movement.

  • Gomphosis

    A peg-and-socket joint: a tooth root anchored in its bony socket by short bands of dense connective tissue, the periodontal ligaments.

    Examples: Every tooth in the upper jaw (maxilla) and lower jaw (mandible).

    Synarthrosis: immobile.

Cartilaginous joints

The bones are joined by cartilage, either hyaline cartilage or fibrocartilage. No joint cavity. (ch. 9.3)

  • Synchondrosis

    Bones (or bone and cartilage) joined by hyaline cartilage.

    Examples: The epiphyseal plate (growth plate) of a growing long bone, a temporary one that turns to bone (a synostosis) when growth ends; the joint between the first rib and the manubrium of the sternum through its costal cartilage, and the other costochondral joints between rib and costal cartilage, which are permanent.

    Synarthrosis: no significant movement.

  • Symphysis

    Bones joined by fibrocartilage.

    Examples: The pubic symphysis (a narrow gap between the two pubic bones); the intervertebral discs between the bodies of the vertebrae (a wide gap).

    Amphiarthrosis: limited movement.

Synovial joints

The bone surfaces meet inside a joint cavity filled with lubricating synovial fluid, so the bones move freely against each other. Every synovial joint is a diarthrosis. The six shapes are in part 3; the parts are in part 4. (ch. 9.1, 9.4)

By how much they move

  • Synarthrosis

    An immobile joint.

    Examples: The skull sutures, the manubriosternal joint of the sternum, the epiphyseal plate.

  • Amphiarthrosis

    A joint with limited movement.

    Examples: The intervertebral discs, the pubic symphysis, the syndesmosis between the tibia and fibula.

  • Diarthrosis

    A freely movable joint. Every synovial joint is one. They can be sorted again by the number of axes they move around: uniaxial (one plane, like the elbow), biaxial (two planes, like a knuckle) or multiaxial (three axes, like the shoulder and hip).

    Examples: The elbow, the knuckles, the shoulder, the hip, the knee.

Part 3 · Synovial joints

The six synovial joint types

Sorted by shape, with how many axes each moves around and the movements that go with it.

  • Pivot jointUniaxial

    Movement is rotation around a single axis.

    Examples: The atlantoaxial joint between the first and second neck vertebrae (C1 and C2); the proximal radioulnar joint in the forearm.

    Movements: Rotation: turning the head side to side; pronation and supination of the forearm.

  • Hinge jointUniaxial

    The convex end of one bone fits the concave end of the next; it allows bending and straightening only.

    Examples: The elbow (between the humerus and ulna), the knee, the ankle and the interphalangeal joints of the fingers and toes.

    Movements: Flexion and extension; at the ankle, dorsiflexion and plantar flexion.

  • Condyloid jointBiaxial

    A shallow depression on one bone receives a rounded end of another, allowing movement in two planes.

    Examples: The knuckles (metacarpophalangeal joints) and the radiocarpal joint of the wrist.

    Movements: Flexion and extension, abduction and adduction.

  • Saddle jointBiaxial

    Both of the articulating bone surfaces have a saddle shape.

    Examples: The first carpometacarpal joint at the base of the thumb (trapezium and first metacarpal); the sternoclavicular joint between the sternum and clavicle.

    Movements: Flexion and extension, abduction and adduction; at the thumb, opposition and reposition.

  • Plane (gliding) jointMultiaxial

    Flat or slightly curved surfaces glide against each other. It is classed as multiaxial, though ligaments or neighboring bones may limit the movements.

    Examples: The intercarpal joints of the wrist, the intertarsal joints of the foot, the acromioclavicular joint at the top of the shoulder and the zygapophysial (facet) joints between vertebrae.

    Movements: Gliding movements; inversion and eversion involve the intertarsal joints.

  • Ball-and-socket jointMultiaxial

    The rounded head of one bone (the ball) fits into a cup-shaped hollow of another (the socket). It is the joint with the greatest range of motion.

    Examples: The hip joint and the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint.

    Movements: Flexion and extension, abduction and adduction, medial and lateral rotation, circumduction.

Part 4 · Anatomy of a synovial joint

The parts of a synovial joint

Joint cavity
The fluid-filled space where the joint surfaces of the bones meet. This cavity is what makes a joint synovial: the bones touch inside it instead of being joined by fibrous tissue or cartilage.
Articular capsule
A wall of fibrous connective tissue attached to each bone just outside its joint surface. It encloses the joint cavity.
Synovial membrane
The lining on the inside of the capsule. Its cells secrete the synovial fluid.
Synovial fluid
A thick, slippery fluid that lubricates the joint, cutting friction between the bones, and feeds the articular cartilage, which has no blood vessels of its own.
Articular cartilage
A thin layer of hyaline cartilage covering each articulating surface.
Ligaments
Bands of fibrous connective tissue that hold the bones together. Three kinds by position: extrinsic (outside the capsule), intrinsic (fused into the capsule wall) and intracapsular (inside the capsule).
Bursae
Fluid-filled sacs that reduce friction between skin and bone (subcutaneous), muscle and bone (submuscular) or tendon and bone (subtendinous).
Tendon sheaths
Structures, smaller than bursae, that surround a tendon where it crosses a joint.
Articular discs and menisci
Fibrocartilage pads in some joints: an articular disc is small and oval, a meniscus is larger and C-shaped. Examples include the knee and the sternoclavicular and temporomandibular joints.
Fat pads
Cushions of fat inside some synovial joints.

Matching

Match each term to its meaning

Choose a meaning for each of the 10 terms, then press Check. Each meaning fits exactly one term.

Practice questions

20 practice questions, every answer explained

Movement terms, joint classes, synovial joint types and the parts of a synovial joint. Your result is free and needs no sign-up.

Question 1 of 20

Raising your arm out to the side, away from your body, is

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Sources

Where these facts come from

Everything on this page is written in our own words from these public sources. The everyday pictures and memory hooks are ours. Where your course uses different wording, your course materials decide.

More free study tools: medical abbreviations and word parts, a dermatome map and nerve study sheet and the skills finder.

Questions

Common questions

Yes. The movement terms, the matching exercise, the joint reference and the practice questions are free, and your result needs no sign-up. An email unlocks the bonus: a printable one-page chart and more practice questions.

Abduction moves a limb sideways, away from the midline of the body; adduction brings it back toward the midline. Spreading the fingers or toes apart is abduction, and bringing them together is adduction.

In a limb, flexion bends a joint so the angle between the bones gets smaller, and extension straightens it so the angle gets bigger. For the neck and trunk, flexion is bending forward and extension is straightening or bending backward.

They are forearm movements produced by rotation of the radius at the proximal radioulnar joint. In supination the palm faces forward; in pronation it faces backward, and the radius and ulna form an X-shape.

Dorsiflexion lifts the front of the foot so the top of the foot moves toward the shin. Plantar flexion lifts the heel off the ground or points the toes downward.

Inversion turns the sole of the foot inward, toward the midline; eversion turns it outward, away from the midline. Both involve the plane joints among the tarsal bones of the back of the foot.

No. This is a study aid for people in anatomy and physiology, nursing, medical assisting, physical therapy assistant and similar programs. It describes normal anatomy terms only. It does not cover injuries, symptoms, diagnosis or treatment, and your course materials and instructor come first.

OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, chapter 9, a free open college textbook: classification of joints, fibrous joints, cartilaginous joints, synovial joints and types of body movements. Every section is linked below.