"Terminologia medica" vs "Terminologia Anatomica": quo vadis?

The aim of this paper is to examine the development of grammar gender representation in Latin terms of Greek origin. The most comprehensive Latin-Latvian medical dictionary for the Latvian-speaking audience is “Terminologia medica” (TM) by Kristaps Rudzītis. This book is in its third edition; therefore, it elucidates its role and importance in medical research and education. The international English-speaking audience has access to “Terminologia Anatomica” (TA) – an international standard of human anatomy developed by the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology and the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists. Although Rudzītis mentions TA as one of the sources of TM, the two dictionaries demonstrate differences in the representation of grammatical gender of Latin terms of Greek origin. The paper presents an analysis of Latin terms of Greek origin included in the curricula of first-year medical students at RSU, namely “Medical Terminology in Latin” and “Medicīnas terminoloģija latīņu valodā”. The paper employs statistical, comparative, and descriptive methods to analyze the representation of the terms in the TM and the TA. The results of the analysis will explain the differences in representation of grammatical gender of Latin terms of Greek origin and their effect on the use of anatomical terminology. Although terminology should be precise and permanent, it changes through time as any other aspect of language. This is a challenge not only in the field of linguistics but also medicine to observe and evaluate such changes as terminology is an object of research in both fields.