What is the meaning of the word orthopaedics in latin?
Orthopaedics is the branch of surgery broadly concerned with the skeletal system (bones). Nowadays the term is often misspelled. Even the telephone books and newspapers provide the incorrect variant - Orthopedics - which confuses patients a lot. Actually, Orthopedics would relate the term only to the foot because in Latin pedis means foot. Orthopaedics is often considered old-fashioned, but, in fact, it is the correct spelling. The term is derived from the two Greek roots: ortho-, straight + -paes, child. This way, Orthopaedics literally describes the practice of straightening the child.
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