Medical Terminology PDF

b. Medical Terminology In this section you will be looking at how medical terminology is formed and at the most common terms you will need to learn. Medical terminology is basically Latin or Greek in origin and is made up of many smaller parts. Many English words have their origins in the Greek and...

b. Medical Terminology In this section you will be looking at how medical terminology is formed and at the most common terms you will need to learn. Medical terminology is basically Latin or Greek in origin and is made up of many smaller parts. Many English words have their origins in the Greek and Latin languages. Like any other vocabulary though you can get a long way by learning the basic terminology. The naming of organs, diseases and procedures can be easily understood if the component parts of the words are known. Below is a selection of prefixes, suffixes and the roots which go to make up medical terms. Remember: Prefixes are placed before the root; suffixes are added after. Term Meaning Example a- Without, lack of Aphasia (lack of speech) ab- Away from Abductor (leading away from) -able Capable Viable(capable of living) acou- Hearing Acoustics (science of sound) ad- To, toward, near to Adrenal (near the kidney) -algia Pain Neuralgia (pain in nerve) ana- Up, back, again Anatomy (a cutting up) angio- Vessel Angiography (radiography of blood vessels) arthr- Joint Arthritis (inflammation of a joint) -asis, - Condition, state of Homeostasis (state of staying the ism same) auto- Self Autolysis (self breakdown) bi-, di- Twice, double Diploid (two sets of chromosomes) bio- Live Biology (study of living) -blast- Bud, germ Fibroblast (fiber-producing cell) carcin- Cancer Carcinogenic (causing cancer) cardio- Heart Cardiopathy (heart disease) cephal- Head Cephalic (toward the head) cerebr Brain Cerebrospinal (referring to brain o- and spinal cord) chol- Bile Acholic (without bile) chondr- Cartilage Chondrocyte (cartilage cell) MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY Term Meaning Example -cide Kill Bactericide (agent that kills bacteria) co- , With, together Coenzyme (molecule that functions com-, with an enzyme) con- contra- Against, opposite Contralateral (opposite side) cysto- Bladder or sac Cystocele (hernia of a bladder) -cyte-, Cell Erythrocyte (red blood cell) cyto- de- Away from Dehydrate (remove water) dent- Tooth Dentist derm- Skin Dermatology (study of the skin) dia- Through, across Diapedesis (ooze through) -duct- Draw Abduct (lead away from) -dynia Pain Mastodynia (breast pain) dys- Difficult, bad Dysmentia (bad mind) -ectomy, Cut out, incise Appendectomy (cut out the -tomy appendix) -edem- Swell Myoedema (swelling of a muscle) -emia, Blood Anemia (deficiency of blood) hem- entero- Intestine Enteritis (inflammation of the intestine) epi- Upon, on Epidermis (on the skin) ex- Out, away from Exhalation (breathe out) extra- Outside Extracellular (outside the cell) gastro- Stomach Gastrodynia (stomach ache) -genesis Produce, origin Pathogenesis (origin of disease) gloss- Tongue Hypoglossal (under the tongue) glyco- Sugar, sweet Glycolysis (breakdown of sugar) -gram A drawing Myogram (drawing of a muscle contraction) -graph Instrument that Myograph (instrument for records measuring muscle contraction) hepato- Liver Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) hist- Tissue Histology (study of tissues) homeo- Same Homeostasis (state of staying the same) 1 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY Term Meaning Example hydro- Wet, water Hydrocephalus (fluid within the head) hyper- Over, above, excessive Hypertension (high blood pressure) hypo- Under, below, deficient Hypotension (low blood pressure) -iatr- Treat, cure Pediatrics (treatment of children) infra- Below Infrared intra- Within Intraocular (within the eye) -itis Inflammation Gastritis (inflammation of the stomach) kerato- Cornea or horny Keratinization (formation of a hard tissue tissue) -kin- Move Kinesiology (study of movement) leuko- White Leukocyte (white blood cell) -logy Study Histology (study of tissue) macro- Large Macrophage (large phagocytic cell) mal- Bad Malnutrition (bad nutrition) malaco- Soft Osteomalacia (soft bone) mast- Breast Mastectomy (excision of the breast) mega- Great Megacolon (large colon) melano- Black Melanocyte (black pigment producing skin cell) micro- Small Microorganism (small organism) mono- One, single Monosaccharide (one sugar) multi-, Many, much Multinucleated (two or more poly- nuclei) Myo- Muscle Myocardium (heart muscle) narco- Numbness Narcotic (drug producing stupor or weakness) nephro- Kidney Nephrectomy (removal of a kidney) neuro- Nerve Neuritis (inflammation of a nerve) oculo-, Eye Oculomotor (movement of the ophthalm- eye), ophthalmology odonto- Tooth or teeth Odontomy (cutting a tooth) -oma Tumor Carcinoma (cancerous tumor) osteo- Bone Osteocyte (bone cell) oto- Ear Otolith (ear stone) -pathy Disease Cardiopathy (disease of the heart) peri- Around Periosteum (around bone) 2 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY Term Meaning Example -phag- Eat Dysphagia (difficult eating or swallowing) -phas- Speak Aphasia (unable to speak), Dysphasia -phobia Fear Hydrophobia (fear of water) -plas- Grow Neoplasm (new growth) -plegia Paralyze Paraplegia (paralysis of lower limbs) -pne- Breathe Apnea (lack of breathing) pod- Foot Podiatry (treatment of foot disorders) psycho- Mind, soul Psychosomatic (effect of the mind on the body) Pyo- Pus Pyoderma (pus in the skin) -rrhagia Pour Hemorrhage (bleed) sarco- Flesh or fleshy Sarcoma (connective tissue tumor) -scope Examine Endoscope (instrument for examining the inside of a hollow organ) somato- Body Somatotropin (hormone causing body growth) -stomy To make an artificial Tracheostomy (make an opening opening into the trachea) sub- Under Subcutaneous (under skin) super-, Above Supercilia (upper brows) supra- tachy- Fast, swift Tachycardia (rapid heart rate) therm- Heat Thermometer (device for measuring heat) tox- Poison Antitoxin (substance effective against poison) tri- Three Triceps (three-headed muscle) -troph- Nourish Hypertrophy (enlargement or overnourishment) -uria Urine Polyuria (excess urine) vene-, Vein Venesection (phlebotomy = phleb- incision into a vein) 3 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY Most medical terms can be divided into one or more word parts. For simplicity you should know that there are four word parts, and any given medical term may contain one, some or all of them: 1. a word root 2. a prefix 3. a suffix 4. a linking or a combining vowel 1- Word Root Word roots, abundantly originated from Latin and Greek, are the stem or the main part of the medical term. Below are some very common medical word roots. Do you know what they mean? bi, erythr, haem, leuc, path, tox A medical term must have at least one root, but does not have to have a prefix and/or a suffix. 2- Prefix A prefix  comes before a root word and  changes its meaning. 3- Suffix A suffix  comes after a root word and  modifies its meaning. 4 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY An example of a word with three of the above parts is the medical term Pericarditis. This term refers to the inflammation of the area surrounding the heart, or an inflammation of the outer layer of the heart, known as the pericardium. The term Pericarditis can be divided into three parts: peri - card - itis The prefix peri means surrounding. The root card means heart, and The suffix itis means inflammation. 4- The combining form of a word root Root words are very often preceded by a prefix, followed by a suffix and joined with a combining vowel. The most common combining vowel is ’o’, but other vowels such as’a’, ’e’ or ’i’ are also used. This makes the term easier to pronounce. e.g. palat + o = palato...... palatoglossal Combining vowels are often used between roots and suffixes or roots and other roots, but they are NOT used between prefixes and roots. Word root combining part suffix gingiv- e(c) -tomy Gingiv : meaning 'gum' -tomy: suffix meaning 'incision' (cut) into Gingivectomy = incision into the gum prefix root suffix epi gastr- ic epi: prefix meaning 'upon or above' gastr- : root meaning 'stomach' ic: suffix meaning 'related' 5 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY To know how words are formed, you need to remember three golden rules while forming medical terminology. Three golden rules Rule 1: Joining a combining form to a suffix:  Always use ’o’ combining vowel until you find a suffix begining with a vowel, then drop it. gastr/o + logy = gastrology gastr/o + tomy = gastrotomy gastr/o + itis = gastritis gastr/o + ectomy = gastrectomy 1. Exercise on Rule 1: 1. When you join the term gastr/o with the suffix -pathy you get the term ------------- which means a --------------------- of the stomach. 2. When you join the term gastr/o with the suffix -scopy you get the term ------------- which means a visual examination of the ------------------. 3. When you join the term hepat/o with the suffix -itis you get the term --------------- which means an ------------------ of the liver. 4. When you join the term hepat/o with the suffix -megaly you get the term ---------- which means an enlargement of the liver. 5. When you join the term hepat/o with the suffix -oma you get the term -------------- which means a tumour/swelling of the -----------------. 6 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY Rule 2: Joining two word roots  Some words contain two or more combining forms of words. In these cases, the combining form of the first word is left in place. trache/o + bronch/o + itis = tracheobronchitis 2. Exercise on Rules 1 & 2: Combine the following to make medical terms duoden/o + jejun/o + -stomy = trache/o + bronch/o + -itis = oste/o + arthr/o + -pathy = pylor/o + gastr/o + -ectomy = Rule 3: Joining a prefix to a root  If a prefix ends with a vowel and is added to a root that starts with a vowel or ’h’ – drop the vowel of the prefix. o anti + acid = antacid o NOTE this is only advisory there are many exceptions: periosteitis 3. Exercise on Rule 3: Combine the following to make medical terms Endo- + odont/o + -ic = Prostho- + odont/o + -ist = Mono- + ocul/o + -ar = Peri- + spleen/o + -itis = 7 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY 4. General Exercise: Guess or provide the right meanings or terms 1. The combining form hepato means _______________. a. stomach b. kidney c. liver d. lung 2. The combining form pnoea in dyspnoea or tachypnoea means __________. a. eat b. sleep c. breath d. walk 3. The combining form for lung is ___________. a. pleuro b. pulmo c. bronchi d. throraco 4. The word pectoral refers to the ________. a. breast b. leg c. feet d. waist 5. The combining form for hard is _______. a. jejuno b. caeco c. sclero d. trachea 5. Fill in the blanks 1. The word element melano means --------------- 2. The word element osteo means ---------------. 3. The word element leuk/o means ---------------. 6. Complete the following table: S Term Meaning S Term Meaning 1 -duct- 24 urine 2 cell (red blood cell) 25 -troph- 3 pain 26 phobia 4 -blast- 27 ear 5 co- 28 many, much 6 muscle 29 air, gas, or lung 7 cardio- 30 small 8 expressing condition 31 nephro- 8 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY 9 gloss- 32 -pathy 10 vene- 33 ortho- 11 hidden 34 joint 12 speak, utter 35 infra- 13 acou- 36 three 14 wet, water 37 supra- 15 pod- 38 -semi 16 -stomy 39 poison 17 pre- 40 di 18 eye/study of the eye 41 skin 19 -pne- 42 a- 20 epi- 43 exo- 21 hist- 44 stomach 22 difficult 45 osteo- 23 psycho- 46 heat 7. Multiple Choice: 1. The prefix ab means: (away from – near - toward – far) 2. The prefix dia means: (double – across – through – complete) 3. The prefix anti means: (before – against – across – complete) 4. The suffix -ist means: (condition - one who specializes – inflammation - pertaining to) 5. From which language did most of the terms for the body's organs originate? (Latin – Greek – French – English) 6. The Greek combining form metr/i means: (measure – multiple – uterus –ovary) 9 MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY 8. True or False 1. Medical terms are made up of only prefixes and suffixes. True False 2. The term prefix means to fix before or to fix to the beginning of a word. True False 3. A suffix will not alter or modify the meaning of the word or create a new word. True False 4. The prefix that means cancer is carcin-. True False 5. Ova is the plural form of ovum. True False 10