Medical Terminology: Prefixes, Suffixes & Root Words

• Medical terminology is constructed from prefixes, suffixes, and root words to describe conditions and procedures

Combining forms

• Gastr + -itis = "gastritis" means inflammation of the stomach
• Enter + -itis = "enteritis" means inflammation of the small intestine
• Gastr/o + enter + -itis = "gastroenteritis" means inflammation of the stomach and small intestine
• Arthr + -itis = "arthritis" means inflammation of the joint
• Cyan/o + -tic = "cyanotic" means pertaining to blue
• Cardi + -ac = "Cardiac" means pertaining to the heart
• Hyper + thyroid + -ism = "hyperthyroidism" means pertaining to an excessive thyroid gland

Describing a disease condition

• Symptom: a sensation a person experiences that cannot be confirmed by another person or test, like a headache
• Sign: an indication of a condition that can be seen or confirmed by another person or test, like a fever or vomiting
• Syndrome: a set of signs and symptoms that occur together as part of a specific disease process
• Disease: a condition where one or more body parts is not functioning properly
• Diagnosis: the identification of a disease
• Differential diagnosis: a list of the different/possible diseases that might be causing the signs and symptoms that the patient has
• Acute: a condition with rapid onset, severe course, and relatively short duration
• Chronic: a condition of long duration, which may be controlled, but usually not cured
• Prognosis: a prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disorder
• Remission: a temporary, partial, or complete disappearance of the symptoms of a disease without achieving a cure
• Eponym: a disease, structure, operation, or procedure named for the person who discovered or described it first
• Acronym: a word formed from the initial letters of the major parts of a term with many words