Which directional term means toward the midline of the body?

• A. Lateral
• B. Superior
• C. Medial
• D. Posterior

Answer: (C)

In anatomy, directional terms describe where a structure is relative to the body’s midline, the imaginary line that splits the body into left and right halves. The term that means toward that line is medial, describing something closer to the center than another structure. For example, the nose is medial to the cheeks, and the great toe is medial to the second toe. The opposite term, lateral, means away from the midline. Other terms like superior and posterior describe vertical or front/back directions, not distance from the midline.