Affixes

The latero‑ form appears in a number of specialist medical terms, usually hyphenated. Some refer to lateral displacement: lateroflexion, bending or curvature of a body part to one side; lateroversion (Latin vertere, to turn), displacement of an organ (especially the uterus) to one side. Others refer to the side of a specified structure: laterocervical (Latin cervix, cervic‑, neck), the side of the neck; laterodorsal (Latin dorsum, back), the side of the back of an organ, especially in a part of the brain called the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus; lateroventral (Latin venter, ventr‑, belly), similarly the side of the front of an organ. The form spelled lateri‑ is rare, the only example at all met with being laterigrade, walking sideways, as some species of spiders do.