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Questions and Answers
What are the four elements of medical terms?
Roots, suffixes, prefixes, and combining forms.
What is the meaning of medical terminology?
The language used to describe components and processes of the human body, medical procedures, diseases, disorders, and pharmacology.
Which of the following medical terms represent the main part of the word?
What does 'nephrology' relate to?
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What is a combining form?
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What does the suffix '-ectomy' mean?
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What is the meaning of the prefix 'poly'?
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The combining vowel used in medical terms is always 'o'.
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A ___ is an instrument for examining.
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What does 'tachycardia' mean?
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Match the following prefixes with their meanings:
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What is the definition of 'morbidity'?
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What does '-oma' refer to?
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Study Notes
Medical Terminology
- The language utilized to describe the body's components, processes, medical procedures, diseases, disorders, and pharmaceutical aspects
- Used for clear communication between healthcare professionals
- Drawn from various languages, primarily Greek and Latin
Basic Elements of Medical Terms
- Word Root: Fundamental part of a word, every word has at least one
- Combining Form: Word root combined with a vowel (typically "o")
- Suffix: Letters added to the end of a word root or combining form, indicating procedures, disorders, etc.
- Prefix: Syllables positioned before a word root, altering the meaning or creating a new word
Word Roots
- Represent the core meaning of a word
- Examples include: "nephro" (kidney), "cardi" (heart)
Combining Forms
- Combine a word root and a vowel (usually "o")
- Allow for the creation of more complex medical terms
- Examples include: "nephr/o" (kidney), "cardi/o" (heart), "hepat/o" (liver)
Suffixes
- Provide further detail about the nature of a medical term
- Examples include: "-ectomy" (excision), "-itis" (inflammation)
Suffixes of Disorders
- -ema: swelling (e.g., edema)
- -trophy: nourishment (e.g., hypertrophy)
- -ia: condition of (e.g., anemia)
- -iasis: abnormal condition of (e.g., cholelithiasis)
- -megaly: enlargement (e.g., cardiomegaly)
- -oma: tumor (e.g., melanoma)
- -osis: abnormal condition (e.g., osteoporosis)
- -ptysis: spitting up (e.g., hemoptysis)
- -staxis: dripping blood (e.g., epistaxis)
Suffixes for Surgical Procedures
- -centesis: surgical puncture (e.g., amniocentesis)
- -desis: surgical binding (e.g., arthrodesis)
- -ectomy: excision, removal, cut out (e.g., appendectomy)
- -pexy: surgical fixation (e.g., nephropexy)
- -plasty: surgical repair, correction (e.g., rhinoplasty)
- -rrhaphy: suture (e.g., herniorrhaphy)
- -sect: to cut (e.g., dissect)
- -stomy: forming a new opening (e.g., colostomy)
- -tome: instrument for cutting (e.g., microtome)
- -tomy: incision into, cut into (e.g., tracheotomy)
- -tripsy: to crush, break down (e.g., lithotripsy)
Suffixes for Diagnostic Procedures
- -gram: written record, recording (e.g., electrocardiogram)
- -graph: instrument for recording (e.g., electroencephalogram)
- -graphy: process of recording (e.g., mammography)
- -manometer: instrument for measuring pressure (e.g., sphygmomanometer)
- -manometry: process of measuring pressure (e.g., esophageal manometry)
- -meter: instrument for measuring (e.g., thermometer)
- -metery: process of measuring (e.g., spirometry)
- -opsy: visual examination (e.g., biopsy)
- -scope: instrument for examining (e.g., stethoscope)
- -scopy: process of examining, examination (e.g., colonoscopy)
Basic Rules for Combining Medical Terminology
- Rule One: Word root is used before a suffix that begins with a vowel (e.g., "scler/osis" becomes "sclerosis")
- Rule Two: A combining vowel is used to link a word root to a suffix that begins with a consonant, and to link word roots together (e.g., "colon/o + scope" becomes "colonoscope")
Prefixes
- Syllables placed before a word root
- Indicate quantities, disorders, or other aspects
- Examples: "hyper" (above), "hypo" (below)
Prefixes of Disorders
- a, an: without (e.g., anemia)
- dys: difficult or painful (e.g., dysphagia)
- hyper: above (e.g., hyperglycemia)
- hypo: below (e.g., hypotension)
- tachy: fast (e.g., tachycardia)
- brady: slow (e.g., bradycardia)
- poly: many (e.g., polycythemia)
- oligo: few (e.g., oligomenorrhea)
Prefixes of Numbers
- Mono-: One
- Bi-: Two
- Tri-: Three
- Quad-: Four
- Uni-: One
- Multi-: Many
- Nulli-: None
- Hemi-: Half
- Semi-: Partial, Half
Defining Medical Terms
- Start by defining the suffix
- Then define the prefix
- Finally, define the word root
- Example: "Tachycardia"
- Tachy: fast
- card: heart
- ia: condition of
- Tachycardia: fast heart condition
Hyphenation
- Use a hyphen (-) after the prefix and before the suffix (e.g. "intra-muscul-ar")
- Example: "intra-muscul-ar"
- intra: in
- muscul: muscle
- ar: relating to
Important Medical Terms
- Aetiology: Cause of diseases
- Signs: Clinical evidence of a disease or disorder
- Symptoms: Indicators of a disease experienced by the patient
- Disease: Set of signs and symptoms disrupting normal organ or system function
- Diagnosis: Identification of disease based on signs and symptoms
- Prognosis: Forecast of the disease outcome/recovery
- Morbidity: Presence of illness or disease
- Mortality: Death
- Acute: Beginning abruptly and usually intense
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Description
This quiz covers the foundational elements of medical terminology, including word roots, combining forms, prefixes, and suffixes. Understanding these components is essential for clear communication in healthcare. Test your knowledge of how these terms are constructed and their meanings.
