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The word, vertebra, is derived from the Latin, vertere, meaning to rotate or turn, as in words such as vertigo or retroversion. It was the French naturalist, Pierre Lamarck [1744 - 1829], who first employed the word to describe the kingdom of animals with backbones [les animaux vertebres.] A synonym, the spine, comes from the Latin, spina, meaning thorn, prickle or backbone. The Latin, spina, evolved into the French, efine, which became the root of the word, porcupine [the spiny pig.]
The human vertebrae number 33 or 34 depending upon the anatomic text.
The cervical...