Medical Terminology Basics

Medical Terminology

• The language used to describe the human body, its functions, and medical procedures
• Also known as the language of healthcare
• Composed of basic elements: roots, prefixes, and suffixes

Roots

• Provide the core meaning of a medical term
• Usually of Greek or Latin origin
• Can appear anywhere in the term
• Multiple roots can have the same meaning (e.g., pulmon- and pneumon- both refer to lungs)
• Combining a root with a combining vowel creates a combining form

Combining Forms

• Roots are often joined to other roots or suffixes beginning with consonants using a combining vowel
• Example:
  • Pneum- means air (pneum/o)
  • -Thorax means chest
  • Pneum/o + -thorax = pneumothorax (air in the chest cavity)
• Combining vowel is not used when joining a root word with a suffix that starts with a vowel
• Any vowel (a, e, i, o, or u) can be used as a combining vowel

Suffixes

• Groups of letters positioned at the end of a medical term
• Can have multiple meanings
• A combining vowel is used if a suffix starts with a consonant

Types of Suffixes

Diagnostic Suffixes

• Form medical terms related to diagnosis, procedures, or tests to identify diseases
• Examples: -crit, -gram, -graph, -lysis, -oma, -rrhage

Surgical Suffixes

• Produce medical terms that describe invasive surgical procedures performed on the body
• Examples: -centesis, -ectomy, -plasty, -stomy, -tripsy

Pathologic Suffixes

• Result in medical terms that describe symptoms or signs of a disease process
• Examples: -algia, -ectasis, -edema, -emesis, -genesis, -itis, -oma, -osis, -pathy, -penia

Adjectival Suffixes

• 28 suffixes that all mean "pertaining to"
• Examples: -ac, -al, -ale, -alis, -ar, -aris, -ary, -atic, -ative, -eal, -ent, -etic, -ial, -ic, -ica, -ical, -ine, -ior, -iosum, -ious, -istic, -ius, -nic, -ous, -tic, -tiz, -tous, -us

Noun Suffixes

• Don't fall under other categories but maintain the root as a noun
• Examples: -iatry, -ician