Vertebra

[ver’-teb-rali) [vertere, to turn]. One of the bones forming the spinal or vertebral column. There are 33 vertebrae, divided into 7 cervical, 12 thoracic or dorsal, 5 lumbar, 5sacral (the sacrum), 4 coccygeal (the coccyx). A typical vertebra consists of a body and an arch, the latter being formed by two pedicles and two laminre. The arch supports seven proce es: 4 articular, 2 transverse, and I spinous. V., Basilar, the last lumbar vertebra. V. dentata, the axis. V. prominens, the seventh cervical vertebra. 655