• 35 bones
  • Checked October 2026

Skeletal System Labeled in Italian

Thirty-five bone names in Italian on one drawing of the skeleton.

Skeletal System Labeled in Italian

Name Date

Tap any bone to read or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
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Write the name of each numbered bone.Answer key

  1. l'osso frontale
  2. l'osso parietale
  3. l'osso temporale
  4. l'osso occipitale
  5. l'osso nasale
  6. l'osso zigomatico
  7. la mascella
  8. la mandibola
  9. le vertebre cervicali
  10. le vertebre toraciche
  11. le vertebre lombari
  12. l'osso sacro
  13. il coccige
  14. lo sterno
  15. le costole
  16. la clavicola
  17. la scapola
  18. l'omero
  19. il radio
  20. l'ulna
  21. il carpo
  22. il metacarpo
  23. le falangi della mano
  24. l'ilio
  25. il pube
  26. l'ischio
  27. il femore
  28. la rotula
  29. la tibia
  30. il perone
  31. l'astragalo
  32. il tarso
  33. il calcagno
  34. il metatarso
  35. le falangi del piede

Drawn for this site, 2026-09-20. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a bone is answered.

Next step The same skeleton in EnglishMore Italian: the parts of the body

All 35 bones on the diagram

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Skull 8

  1. l'osso frontale Frontal bone (forehead) Frontal bone, the bone of the forehead.
  2. l'osso parietale Parietal bone Parietal bone. Also il parietale on its own.
  3. l'osso temporale Temporal bone Temporal bone. Il temporale on its own is this bone or a storm.
  4. l'osso occipitale Occipital bone Occipital bone. Also l'occipitale on its own.
  5. l'osso nasale Nasal bone Nasal bone. Also il nasale on its own.
  6. l'osso zigomatico Zygomatic bone (cheekbone) Zygomatic bone. Lo zigomo is the cheekbone in everyday speech.
  7. la mascella Maxilla (upper jaw) Maxilla, the upper jaw. In everyday speech la mascella is any jaw.
  8. la mandibola Mandible (lower jaw) Mandible, the lower jaw.

Spine and rib cage 7

  1. le vertebre cervicali Cervical vertebrae (neck) Cervical vertebrae, in the neck. One is una vertebra cervicale.
  2. le vertebre toraciche Thoracic vertebrae (upper back) Thoracic vertebrae. One is una vertebra toracica.
  3. le vertebre lombari Lumbar vertebrae (lower back) Lumbar vertebrae. One is una vertebra lombare.
  4. l'osso sacro Sacrum Sacrum. Also il sacro on its own; sacro also means sacred.
  5. il coccige Coccyx (tailbone) Coccyx, the tailbone, joined to the sacrum.
  6. lo sterno Sternum (breastbone) Sternum, the breastbone. Lo stands before s plus a consonant.
  7. le costole Ribs Ribs. One is una costola; medical Italian prefers la costa.

Shoulder and arm 8

  1. la clavicola Clavicle (collarbone) Clavicle, the collarbone.
  2. la scapola Scapula (shoulder blade) Scapula, the shoulder blade.
  3. l'omero Humerus (upper arm bone) Humerus, the bone of the upper arm. Masculine, although l' hides the gender.
  4. il radio Radius Radius. La radio, feminine, is a radio; il radio is the bone.
  5. l'ulna Ulna Ulna. Feminine, although l' hides the gender: le ulne.
  6. il carpo Carpals (wrist bones) Carpus, the bones of the wrist. Il carpo names the group.
  7. il metacarpo Metacarpals (palm bones) Metacarpus, the bones between the wrist and the fingers.
  8. le falangi della mano Phalanges of the hand (finger bones) Phalanges of the hand, the finger bones. One is una falange.

Hip and leg 12

  1. l'ilio Ilium Ilium, the upper part of the hip bone. Also written l'ileo.
  2. il pube Pubis Pubis, one of the three parts of the hip bone.
  3. l'ischio Ischium Ischium, one of the three parts of the hip bone.
  4. il femore Femur (thigh bone) Femur, the thigh bone.
  5. la rotula Patella (kneecap) Patella, the kneecap. Also called la patella.
  6. la tibia Tibia (shinbone) Tibia, the shinbone.
  7. il perone Fibula (calf bone) Fibula. Also la fibula.
  8. l'astragalo Talus (ankle bone) Talus, the ankle bone, one of the bones of il tarso.
  9. il tarso Tarsals Tarsus, a group of seven bones of the foot. Il tarso names the group.
  10. il calcagno Calcaneus (heel bone) Calcaneus, the heel bone. In everyday speech il calcagno is the heel.
  11. il metatarso Metatarsals Metatarsus, the bones between the tarsus and the toes.
  12. le falangi del piede Phalanges of the foot (toe bones) Phalanges of the foot, the toe bones.

How this list was compiled: Every Italian name, its gender and its meaning was read on 2026-10-08 in two dictionaries. (1) WordReference, Italian-English (https://www.wordreference.com/iten/ followed by the word): osso (with the plurals ossi and ossa), frontale, parietale and osso parietale, temporale, occipitale, nasale, zigomo, mascella, mascellare, mandibola, vertebra, cervicale, toracico, lombare, osso sacro, coccige, sterno, costola, costa, clavicola, scapola, omero, radio, ulna, carpo, metacarpo, falange, pube, ischio, femore, rotula, tibia, perone, fibula, astragalo, tarso, calcagno, metatarso, scheletro, cranio and colonna vertebrale; and English-Italian (https://www.wordreference.com/enit/ followed by the word): ilium (ilio), maxilla (mascella), patella (rotula), talus (astragalo), skull (cranio) and spine (colonna vertebrale). (2) Vocabolario Treccani of the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana (https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/ followed by the word; ileo1, ischio1, radio2, sacro2 and temporale2 for the five that have more than one entry): osso, frontale (osso frontale), parietale (osso parietale, or il parietale), temporale (osso temporale, or il temporale), occipitale, nasale (osso nasale, or il nasale), zigomatico (osso zigomatico), zigomo, mascella (the upper one in the strict sense; the lower one is the mandibola), mascellare (osso mascellare, il mascellare superiore), mandibola, vertebra, cervicale (vertebre cervicali), dorsale (vertebre toraciche), lombare (vertebre lombari), sacro (osso sacro, or il sacro), coccige, sterno, costa and costola, clavicola, scapola, omero, radio, ulna, metacarpo (which names il carpo and le ossa metacarpali), falange, ileo and ilio (the hip bone, and also the ileum of the intestine), pube, ischio, femore, rotula (also patella), tibia, perone and fibula (the same bone), astragalo, tarso, calcagno, metatarso, scheletro and cranio. Treccani's entry for carpo is the prefix only; the noun stands in its entries for ulna, radio and metacarpo. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site, 2026-09-20. Proportions and bone shapes were checked by eye against three public-domain pictures on Wikimedia Commons: Gray188.png (side view of the skull from Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body, 1918), Human_skeleton_front_-_no_labels.svg and Human_skeleton_back_en.svg (Mariana Ruiz Villarreal, released into the public domain), and against the descriptions of the wrist and ankle bones in the English Wikipedia articles Carpal bones and Tarsus (skeleton). Nothing was traced or copied, and the numbers and labels are our own. Licence: own work

How it works

The skeleton is drawn from the front and the back, with the skull, one hand and one foot larger. The names run from l'osso frontale to le falangi del piede, each with il, lo, la, l' or le.

Read the full guide

Which article each bone takes

Twenty-two of the 35 names are masculine and thirteen feminine: la mascella, la mandibola, the three kinds of vertebre, le costole, la clavicola, la scapola, l'ulna, la rotula, la tibia and both sets of falangi. Lo stands before s plus a consonant, as in lo sterno, and l' before a vowel: l'omero, l'ilio, l'ischio, l'astragalo.

One noun for a group of bones

Il carpo, il metacarpo, il tarso and il metatarso each name a group of bones, not one bone. The bones of the wrist together are le ossa del carpo.

  • L'ilio is also written l'ileo, the same word as the ileum of the intestine.

Questions and answers

How do you say skeleton in Italian?

Lo scheletro, a masculine noun. A bone is l'osso, the skull is il cranio and the spine is la colonna vertebrale.

What is the plural of osso in Italian?

Le ossa, a feminine plural, for the bones of a body. The regular masculine plural, gli ossi, also exists; WordReference marks le ossa as the more common of the two.

What is the kneecap called in Italian?

La rotula, a feminine noun: la rotula, le rotule. The Treccani dictionary adds that the same bone is also called la patella.

Is the fibula il perone or la fibula in Italian?

Both. Il perone is the word WordReference gives for the bone, and the Treccani dictionary says it is the same bone as la fibula. The drawing shows il perone, and la fibula counts when typed.

Where were the Italian names checked?

Each name and its gender in the Italian-English dictionary of WordReference and in the Vocabolario Treccani, the dictionary of the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.

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