Uterus
The uterus (from Latin "uterus", plural uteri) or womb (/wuːm/) is the main hormone-responsive, secondary sex organ of the female reproductive system in humans, and most other mammals. Events occurring within the uterus are described with the term in utero. In the human, the lower end of the uterus, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the upper end, the fundus, is connected to the fallopian tubes. It is within the uterus that the embryo and later fetus develops during gestation. In the human embryo, the uterus develops from the paramesonephric ducts which fuse into the single organ known as a simplex uterus. The uterus has different forms in many other animals and in some it exists as two separate uteri known as a duplex uterus.
| Uterus | |
|---|---|
 Image showing different structures around and relating to the human uterus | |
| Details | |
| Precursor | Paramesonephric duct |
| System | Reproductive system |
| Artery | Ovarian artery and uterine artery |
| Vein | Uterine veins |
| Lymph | Body and cervix to internal iliac lymph nodes, fundus to para-aortic lymph nodes, lumbar and superficial inguinal lymph nodes. |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | uterus |
| Greek | ὑστέρα (hystéra) |
| MeSH | D014599 |
| TA98 | A09.1.03.001 |
| TA2 | 3500 |
| FMA | 17558 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
In medicine, and related professions the term uterus is consistently used, while the Germanic-derived term womb is commonly used in everyday contexts.