Semi-lunar cartilage

A semi-lunar cartilage is the old-fashioned name for a meniscus. 'Semi-lunar' means 'half-moon' and refers to the shape of the meniscus.

There are two menisci in each knee - a medial meniscus and a lateral meniscus.

Nomenclature issue

In the sporting world, players and coaches often refer to a tear of their 'cartilage' when they should be saying 'meniscus'. This creates confusion when the white covering of the bones is also known as 'cartilage', and tears of the one are very different from tears of the other.