Caput

The Latin word for head. The term is commonly used to refer to the caput succedaneum, a soft, temporary swelling in the scalp of newborn babies, caused by pressure during labour. Caput is also used to refer to the face, skull, and associated organs, to the origin of a muscle, or to any enlarged extremity, such as the caput femoris, the head of the femur (thigh bone).

 

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