There are three basic parts to medical terms: a word root (usually the middle of the word and its central meaning), a prefix (comes at the beginning and usually identifies some subdivision or part of the central meaning), and a suffix (comes at the end and modifies the central meaning as to what or who is interacting ...
Overall, Medical Terminology is a much easier class than most of your other prerequisite classes. That's not to say you're not going to have to work, but I do think many students will find it easier than anatomy and physiology.
Medical terminology is used every day throughout the healthcare industry by doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical assistants. It is also used by billing specialists and medical coders as well as insurance companies to document conditions, process claims, and enable patients to apply for their insurance coverage.
Medical terminology is language used to precisely describe the human body including its components, processes, conditions affecting it, and procedures performed upon it. ... The roots, prefixes and suffixes are often derived from Greek or Latin, and often quite dissimilar from their English-language variants.
Understanding Medical Terms
At first glance, medical terminology can seem like a foreign language. But often the key to understanding medical terms is focusing on their components (prefixes, roots, and suffixes). For example, spondylolysis is a combination of "spondylo, " which means vertebra, and "lysis," which means dissolve, and so means dissolution of a vertebra.
The same components are used in many medical terms. "Spondylo" plus "itis, " which means inflammation, forms spondylitis, an inflammation of the vertebrae. The same prefix plus "malacia, " which means soft, forms spondylomalacia, a softening of the vertebrae.
Knowing the meaning of a small number of components can help with interpretation of a large number of medical terms. The following list defines many commonly used medical prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
a(n)
absence of
acou, acu
hear
aden(o)
gland
aer(o)
air
alg
pain
andr(o)
man
angi(o)
vessel
ankyl(o)
crooked, curved
ante
before
anter(i)
front, forward
anti
against
arteri(o)
artery
arthr(o)
joint
articul
joint
ather(o)
fatty
audi(o)
hearing
aur(i)
ear
aut(o)
self
bi, bis
double, twice, two
brachy
short
brady
slow
bucc(o)
cheek
carcin(o)
cancer
cardi(o)
heart
cephal(o)
head
cerebr(o)
brain
cervic
neck
chol(e)
bile, or referring to gall-bladder
chondr(o)
cartilage
circum
around, about
contra
against, counter
corpor
body
cost(o)
rib
crani(o)
skull
cry(o)
cold
cut
skin
cyan(o)
blue
cyst(o)
bladder
cyt(o)
cell
dactyl(o)
finger or toe
dent
tooth
derm(ato)
skin
dipl(o)
double
dors
back
dys
bad, faulty, abnormal
ectomy
excision (removal by cutting)
emia
blood
encephal(o)
brain
end(o)
inside
enter(o)
intestine
epi
outer, superficial, upon
erythr(o)
red
eu
normal
extra
outside
gastr(o)
stomach
gen
become, originate
gloss(o)
tongue
glyc(o)
sweet, or referring to glucose
gram, graph
write, record
gyn
woman
hem(ato)
blood
hemi
half
hepat(o)
liver
hist(o)
tissue
hydr(o)
water
hyper
excessive, high
hypo
deficient, low
hyster(o)
uterus
iatr(o)
doctor
infra
beneath
inter
among, between
intra
inside
itis
inflammation
lact(o)
milk
lapar(o)
flank, abdomen
latero
side
leuk(o)
white
lingu(o)
tongue
lip(o)
fat
lys(is)
dissolve
mal
bad, abnormal
malac
soft
mamm(o)
breast
mast(o)
breast
megal(o)
large
melan(o)
black
mening(o)
membranes
my(o)
muscle
myc(o)
fungus
myel(o)
marrow
nas(o)
nose
necr(o)
death
nephr(o)
kidney
neur(o)
nerve
nutri
nourish
ocul(o)
eye
odyn(o)
pain
oma
tumor
onc(o)
tumor
oophor(o)
ovaries
ophthalm(o)
eye
opia
vision
opsy
examination
orchi(o)
testes
osis
condition
osse(o)
bone
oste(o)
bone
ot(o)
ear
path(o)
disease
ped(o)
child
penia
deficient, deficiency
peps, pept
digest
peri
around
phag(o)
eat, destroy
pharmaco
drug
pharyng(o)
throat
phleb(o)
vein
phob(ia)
fear
plasty
repair
pleg(ia)
paralysis
pnea
breathing
pneum(ato)
breath, air
pneumon(o)
lung
pod(o)
foot
poie
make, produce
poly
much, many
post
after
poster(i)
back, behind
presby
elder
proct(o)
anus
pseud(o)
false
psych(o)
mind
pulmon(o)
lung
pyel(o)
pelvis of kidney
pyr(o)
fever, fire
rachi(o)
spine
ren(o)
kidneys
rhag
break, burst
rhe
flow
rhin(o)
nose
scler(o)
hard
scope
instrument
scopy
examination
somat(o)
body
spondyl(o)
vertebra
steat(o)
fat
sten(o)
narrow, compressed
steth(o)
chest
stom
mouth, opening
supra
above
tachy
fast, quick
therap
treatment
therm(o)
heat
thorac(o)
chest
thromb(o)
clot, lump
tomy
incision (operation by cutting)
tox(i)
poison
uria
urine
vas(o)
vessel
ven(o)
vein
vesic(o)
bladder
