Medical Terminology Basics

Word-Building System

• Medical terminology is built upon a system of word roots, suffixes, and prefixes.
• Word roots are the core meaning of a word.
• Suffixes are added to the end of a word and modify its meaning.
• Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word and modify its meaning.

Major Organs in the Human Body

• Stomat/o - mouth
• Dent/o - teeth
• Gingiv/a - gums
• Gloss/o/lingu/o - tongue
• Nephro/ren/o - kidney
• Encephal/o - brain
• Hepat/o - liver
• Gastr/o - stomach
• Enter/o - intestine

Compound Words

• Combining two words to form a new word
• Example: Chicken + Pox = Chickenpox

Compound Terms

• Combining word roots using combining vowels (usually "o") to form a single term
• Examples:
  • Gastr/o + scope = Gastroscope
  • Neur/o + surgery = Neurosurgery
  • Micr/o + meter = Micrometer
  • Hydr/o + phobia = Hydrophobia
  • Hydr/o + therapy = Hydrotherapy

Suffixes

• Word Root + Suffix = Noun (e.g., dent + ist = dentist)
• Word Root + Suffix = Adjective (e.g., anem + ic = anemic)

Plural Forms

• Singular: Sarcoma, Diagnosis, Phalanx, Coccus, Vertex, Cervix
• Plural: Sarcomata, Diagnoses, Phalanges, Cocci, Vertices, Cervices

Prefixes of Position

• Circum- = around
• Peri- = around
• Meta- = beyond, after
• Retro- = behind
• Ultra- = beyond, in excess
• Meso- = middle

Body Planes

• Coron/al - divides the body in anterior and posterior halves
• Sagitt/al - divides the body in equal right and left halves

Directional Terms

• Medial - towards the middle (medi/o)
• Lateral - towards the side (later/o)
• Anterior - front (anter/o)
• Posterior - back (poster/o)

Combined Directional Terms

• Anter/o/lateral - front and side
• Anter/o/medial - front and middle
• Anter/o/superior - front and top
• Poster/o/lateral - back and side
• Poster/o/external - back and outside of the body
• Poster/o/internal - back and inside of the body

Distance and Directions

• Proximal - closer to the point of reference
• Distal - farther from the point of reference

Numerical Prefixes

Prefixes of Colors

• Leuko - leukocyte (white)
• Erythro - erythrocyte (red)
• Cyano - cyanosis (blue)
• Melano - melanoma (black)
• Xantho - xanthoma (yellow)
• Chloro - chloroplast (green)
• Chromo - chromocyte (color)

Prefixes Against

• Anti- = against
  • Anti/pyretic: against fever
  • Anti/toxin: against a toxin
  • Anti/depressant: against depression
  • Anti/coagulant: against blood clotting
  • Anti/convulsant: against seizures
• Contra- = against
  • Contra/indication - against indication
  • Contra/ceptive - against conception
  • Contra/lateral - opposite side

Dys- = Painful, Faulty

• Dys- prefix indicates painful, faulty, diseased, bad, difficult, or abnormal.
  • Dys/phag/ia - difficult swallowing
  • Dys/pepsia - indigestion
  • Dys/pnea - difficult breathing
  • Dys/uria - difficult urination

Pseudo- = False

• Pseud/o/cyesis - false pregnancy
• Pseud/o/cyst - a false cyst

Auto = Self

• Auto/lysis - self-destroying
• Auto/immunity - immune response to one's own tissues

Roots Related to Disease

• Alg, algi - pain (myalgia, analgesia)
• Carcin - cancer (carcinogen)
• Onc/o - tumor (oncogene)
• Lith - stone (lithiasis)
• Path/o - disease (pathogen)
• Py/o - pus (pyogenic)
• Pyr/o - fever, fire (pyretic)
• Scler/o - hard (sclerosis)
• Tox/o - poison (exotoxin)

Prefixes & Suffixes Related to Disease

• Mal- - bad (malabsorption)
• Xero- - dry (xerosis)
• Pachy- - thick (pachyemia)
• -oma - tumor (blastoma)
• -rhage - flow (hemorrhage)
• -rhea - flow (rhinorrhea)

Roots Used as Suffixes Related to Disease

• Edema - swelling (lymphedema)
• Lysis - dissolving, destruction (hemolysis)
• Malacia - softening (tracheomalacia)
• Necrosis - death of (osteonecrosis)
• Spasm - cramp, sudden contraction (bronchospasm)
• Stasis - stoppage (hemostasis)
• Stenosis - narrowing (arteriostenosis)