proximal

Proximal means closer to the body's trunk, or closer to the point where a structure attaches. The shoulder end of the humerus is its proximal end and the elbow end is distal; the wrist is distal to the elbow and proximal to the fingers. The word is relational, so it always needs a reference: nothing is proximal on its own, only proximal to something. The rest of the directional set runs the same way. Medial is toward the midline and lateral away from it, superior above and inferior below, anterior toward the front and posterior toward the back, superficial nearer the surface and deep further in. For the limbs the pair to keep straight is proximal–distal, because a question that asks which structure sits nearer the trunk is asking about distance along the limb, not about height on a page.