The anatomical origin is a concept used when describing muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, and blood and lymph vessels. While it often has a slightly different meaning depending on which kind of origin is referred to,^[1] it is generally used to explain the relative location of the anatomical structure in question. It is not to be understood in a temporal/ontogenetical sense.

[edit] Muscles

The origin of a muscle is the point at which it attaches to a bone (usually) or another muscle. The structure that the origin is attached to is not moved by the contraction of the muscle^[2]. The opposite end of the muscle is called the insertion. This definition means that there is a functional aspect to the definition of a muscle's origin and insertion. Both origin and insertion are important for understanding the physiological function of the muscle.

[edit] Tendons, ligaments, nerves, and blood and lymph vessels

This section requires expansion.

The origin of an artery is the (usually bigger) artery that the former artery branches off of.

[edit] Footnotes and references

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v • d • e Muscular system (TA A04.0, GA 4.361) Topics Muscular tissue · Muscles of the human body Types of muscles Cardiac muscle · Skeletal muscle · Smooth muscle Other Unipennate muscle · Bipennate muscle · Origin · Insertion · Fascia (Superficial fascia, Deep fascia, Visceral fascia) · Tendon/Aponeurosis · Fascial compartment muscle, DF+DRCT navs: anat/hist/physio, acquired myopathy/congenital myopathy/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous, proc