Part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neck</span>

Neck

<p>The <b>neck</b> is the part of the body on many <a href="/en/Vertebrate" title="Vertebrate" class="wl">vertebrates</a> that connects the <a href="/en/Head_(anatomy)" title="Head (anatomy)" class="mw-redirect wl">head</a> with the <a href="/en/Torso" title="Torso" class="wl">torso</a>. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the <a href="/en/Human_brain" title="Human brain" class="wl">brain</a> down to the rest of the body. In addition, the neck is highly flexible and allows the head to turn and flex in all directions. The structures of the human neck are anatomically grouped into four compartments; vertebral, visceral and two vascular compartments.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:0_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span> Within these compartments, the neck houses the <a href="/en/Cervical_vertebrae" title="Cervical vertebrae" class="wl">cervical vertebrae</a> and cervical part of the <a href="/en/Spinal_cord" title="Spinal cord" class="wl">spinal cord</a>, upper parts of the <a href="/en/Respiratory_tract" title="Respiratory tract" class="wl">respiratory</a> and <a href="/en/Gastrointestinal_tract" title="Gastrointestinal tract" class="wl">digestive tracts</a>, <a href="/en/Endocrine_gland" title="Endocrine gland" class="wl">endocrine glands</a>, <a href="/en/Nerve" title="Nerve" class="wl">nerves</a>, <a href="/en/Artery" title="Artery" class="wl">arteries</a> and <a href="/en/Vein" title="Vein" class="wl">veins</a>. Muscles of the neck are described separately from the compartments. They bound the neck triangles.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:1_2-0"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span></p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso</div>
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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Neck, Details, Identifiers, Latin, MeSH...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above notheme" style="background-color:dimgray; color: white">Neck</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:Neck.png" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Neck.png"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Neck.png/250px-Neck.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="303" data-file-height="335" data-file-type="bitmap" height="276" width="250" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Neck.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Neck.png 2x" alt="Neck.png"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Human neck</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #efefef">Details</th></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #efefef">Identifiers</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:0.25em"><a href="/en/Latin" title="Latin" class="wl">Latin</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><i>cervix; collum</i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:0.25em"><a href="/en/Medical_Subject_Headings" title="Medical Subject Headings" class="wl">MeSH</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow" href="https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D009333" class="external text" target="_blank">D009333</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:0.25em"><a href="/en/Terminologia_Anatomica" title="Terminologia Anatomica" class="wl">TA98</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow" href="https://ifaa.unifr.ch/Public/EntryPage/TA98%20Tree/Entity%20TA98%20EN/01.1.00.012%20Entity%20TA98%20EN.htm" class="external text" target="_blank">A01.1.00.012</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:0.25em"><a href="/en/Terminologia_Anatomica" title="Terminologia Anatomica" class="wl">TA2</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow" href="https://ta2viewer.openanatomy.org/?id=123" class="external text" target="_blank">123</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:0.25em"><a href="/en/Foundational_Model_of_Anatomy" title="Foundational Model of Anatomy" class="wl">FMA</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow" href="https://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/FMA/?p=classes&amp;conceptid=http%3A%2F%2Fpurl.org%2Fsig%2Font%2Ffma%2Ffma7155" class="external text" target="_blank">7155</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-below"><a href="/en/Anatomical_terminology" title="Anatomical terminology" class="wl">Anatomical terminology</a><div style="text-align: right;"><small class="noprint">[<a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9633" title="d:Q9633" class="extiw" target="_blank">edit on Wikidata</a>]</small></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>
<p>In <a href="/en/Anatomy" title="Anatomy" class="wl">anatomy</a>, the neck is also called by its Latin names, <b><span><i lang="la">cervix</i></span><span class="lang-comment" style="font-style: normal; display: none; color: #33aa33; margin-left: 0.3em;">code: lat promoted to code: la </span></b> or <b><span><i lang="la">collum</i></span><span class="lang-comment" style="font-style: normal; display: none; color: #33aa33; margin-left: 0.3em;">code: lat promoted to code: la </span></b>, although when used alone, in context, the word <i>cervix</i> more often refers to the <a href="/en/Cervix" title="Cervix" class="wl">uterine cervix</a>, the neck of the <a href="/en/Uterus" title="Uterus" class="wl">uterus</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span> Thus the adjective <i>cervical</i> may refer either to the neck (as in <i><a href="/en/Cervical_vertebrae" title="Cervical vertebrae" class="wl">cervical vertebrae</a></i> or <i><a href="/en/Cervical_lymph_nodes" title="Cervical lymph nodes" class="wl">cervical lymph nodes</a></i>) or to the uterine cervix (as in <i><a href="/en/Cervical_cap" title="Cervical cap" class="wl">cervical cap</a></i> or <i><a href="/en/Cervical_cancer" title="Cervical cancer" class="wl">cervical cancer</a></i>).</p>



The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In addition, the neck is highly flexible and allows the head to turn and flex in all directions. The structures of the human neck are anatomically grouped into four compartments; vertebral, visceral and two vascular compartments. In anatomy, the neck is also called by its Latin names, cervixcode: lat promoted to code: la  or collumcode: lat promoted to code: la , although when used alone, in context, the word cervix more often refers to the uterine cervix, the neck of the uterus. Thus the adjective cervical may refer either to the neck or to the uterine cervix . 