What does “Kreuzbänder” mean in German?

Kreuzbänder is the German word for cruciate ligaments, the X-shaped bands inside the knee that ski accidents love to tear. The word is built transparently from Kreuz (“cross”) plus Band (“band, ligament”). German medical vocabulary often prefers this kind of native compound over Latin or Greek borrowings: Krankenhaus (“sickness-house”) for hospital, Schlüsselbein (“key-bone”) for clavicle, Lungenentzündung (“lung-inflammation”) for pneumonia.

This Swiss clip is a skier describing her serious accident. She crashed on an icy slope, both Kreuzbänder tore at once, and the inner ligaments went too. The transparent German vocabulary lets a non-doctor follow the medical detail in everyday speech.