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Why is Latin used today for the vast majority of medical terms?

Help! Why is Latin used today for the vast majority of medical terms? What contributions, if any, have ancient scientists made to modern medical practices? My teacher told me i nead HEAPS of detail! Why, why, and WHY??

Public Comments

1. They always have used mostly Latin medical terms.
2. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~humananatomy/resources/etymology.htm
3. When all the modern sciences were being developed, the language of the educated (at least in Europe) was Latin. If you had any formal education at all, you were taught Latin, and you were probably taught by the clergy. Latin was the language of not only science and of the church but also of the legal system (including international diplomacy), and all three of these things have some rooting in the cultures of ancient Rome and Greece. The origins of our medical system (from the Hippocratic Oath to simple cleanliness) were greatly influenced by Classical civilization, and we really began moving towards modern medicine during the Renaissance, a period defined as a rebirth (the literal meaning of renaissance) in classical learning. for more detail on specific contributions, try these sites: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medicine_in_ancient_rome.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_in_ancient_Rome
4. Latin was the learned language of western civilization LONG after it ceased to be a spoken language. In addition, although Greek was largely unknown in the West during the Middle Ages, some Greek writers had been translated into Latin and were known in that way. So any ancient writings on medicine would have been available in Latin for the 1000 years or so from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance. So with that basis, along with the fact that Latin remained the means of communication among educated people of various nationalities, it was natural that new medical and scientific writings and terminology would also be in that language. So even that newly discovered primate fossil that you may have read about last week has a Latin name. As for the contributions of ancient scientists to modern medicine, I'm afraid you'll need to ask people in those fiekls. (I'm a medievalist with a concentration in literature and an undergraduate major in Latin.) But you could begin by googling Hippocrates and Galen.