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MEDICAL
TERMINOLOGY
The Language of the Health Profession
ORIGIN OF MEDICAL TERMS
 Hippocrates was a Greek
physician and is known as
the “father of medicine.”
 75% of medical terms are
based on either Greek or
Latin words.
Prefixes:
 Word element located at the beginning of a word
 Changes the meaning of the word
 Usually indicates a number, time, position,
direction, color, or sense of negation
Prefixes to know:
Prefixes
 A-, An-Without or No
Examples:
 Atraumatic: Without Injury
 Ab- Away from
 Abduction: Take away from
 Ad- Toward
 Anti- Against (prevent)
 Dys- Difficult, Painful, Bad
midline
 Aduction: Move toward
midline
 Antiemetics: work
against/prevent vomitting
 Dysphagia: difficult eating or
swallowing.
Prefixes to Know:
Prefixes:
 Ecto- Outside
Examples:
 Ectoparasite: organism that
 Endo-Within or Inside
 Exo-Without, out of, away
from
 Hyper-elevated or more than
normal
 Hypo- depressed or less than
normal




lives on the outer surface
of host.
Endocrine: Secretes
internally.
Exocrine: Secretes
externally.
Hyperglycemia: elevated
amounts of blood sugar
Hypoglycemia: depressed
amounts of blood glucose
Prefixes to Know
Prefixes
 Inter- means between
 Intra- means within
 Oligo- Scant or Little
 Peri- Around
 Poly- Many
Examples
 Intercostal: between the ribs
 Intramuscular: within the
muscle
 Oliguria: Depressed amount of
frequency of urination
 Perioperative: The time around
an operation .
 Polyuria: elevated amount or
frequency of urination.
Prefixes to Know:
Prefixes
Example:
 Post- After
 Postoperative: after an
 Pre- Before
 Sub- Below, Under, Less
 Super- (a) Above,
Beyond, Excessive
 Bi- Two
 Tri- Three





operation
Preoperative: before or
preceding an operation.
Sublingual: under the tongue.
Suprascapular: above the
shoulder
Biceps: two division muscle
Tricep: three division muscle
Prefixes to Know:
Prefixe s
Example:
 Quadri- Four
 Quadricep: Muscle with four
 Mega- Large

 Brady- Slow
 Tachy- Rapid
 De- away from,
remove, down
 Mal- bad, poor




divisions.
Megacolon: too large of a
colon
Bradycardia: Slow heart rate
Tachycardia: Rapid heart rate
Dehydrate: loss of body
water
Malnourished: poor nutrition
Let’s Practice Prefixes!!!
-Prefix Word Drill Worksheet
“Find Your Match” Activity
SUFFIX
 A suffix is the word
ending that follows the
word root and changes its
meaning.
 Often indicates the
procedure, condition,
disorder, or disease.
Suffixes to Know
Suffix: “Pertaining To”
Example:
 -ac
 cardiAC : pertaining to heart
 -al
 renAL: pertaining to the kidney
 -an
 -ar
 -ary
 ovariAN: pertaining to the ovary
 lumbAR: pertaining to the loin
 alimentARY: pertaining to the
 -eal

 -ic

 -ine

 -ous

 -tic

gastrointestinal tract
laryngEAL: pertaining to larynx
enterIC: pertaining to intestines
uterINE: pertaining to the uterus
cutaneOUS: pertaining to skin
nephroTIC: pertaining to kidneys
Suffixes to Know:
Examples
-Suffiixes
Surgical
Procedural
 -ectomy: surgical removal
 Mastectomy: removal of the breast
 -pexy: suture to stabilize
 Gastropexy: stabilize stomach to
 -plasty: surgical repair
 -stomy: surgically created






opening
-tomy: cutting into
-centesis: surgical puncture
to remove fluid or gas
-gram: record of
-graph: instrument that
records
-lysis: separation/breakdown
-therapy: treatment








abdominal wall
Rhinoplasty: surgical repair of nose
Colostomy: surgical opening between
colon and body surface
Laparotomy: incision into abdomen
Cystocentesis: puncture of urinary bladder
with needle to remove fluid
Electrocardiogram: hard copy of record
Electrocardiograph: machine records
electrical activity of the heart.
Urinalysis: seperation of urine into its
constituents
Chemotherapy: treatment with chemicals
Suffixes to Know
Suffixes:
 -scope: instrument to








visually examine.
-scopy: procedure to
visually examine
-rrhage: bursting forth
-osis: abnormal condition
-pathy: disease
-megaly: enlargement
-uria: condition of urine
-emia: blood condition
-logy: study of
Examples:
 Endoscope: instrument used to view








inside of body
Endoscopy: procedure to examine
inside of body
Hemorrhage: bursting forth of blood
from vessel
Cardiosis: abnormality in heart
Enteropathy: disease of intestines
Cardiomegaly: enlargement of the
heart
Dysuria: difficult/painful urination
Anemia: deficient red blood cells
Biology: study of life
Let’s Practice Suffixes!
Suffix Word Drill
ROOT WORDS
 A root is the foundation or
basic meaning of a word.
 May appear with a prefix or
suffix, or between a prefix
or suffix.
Root Words to Know
Root Word
 cardi -
heart
 hepatliver
 neur nerve
 nephr kidney
 cystcell
 Arthr/o : Joint
 Chem/o : Chemical/ drug
Colon
Skin
 Cutane/o :
 Col/o :
Root Word:
 Dent/i :
tooth
 Electr/o: electricity
 Enter/o: intestines
 Gastr/o : stomach
 Hem/o : blood
 Hyster/o: uterus/womb
 Lapar/o : abdomen
 Mast- : breast
 Nas/o :
Nose
Root Words to Know:
Root Word:
Meaning:
 Oste/o:
 Bone
 Ovari/o:
 Radi/o:
 Rect/o:
 Rhin/o:
 Urin/o:
 Uter/o:
 Ovary
 X-rays, radioactivity,
radius
 Rectum
 Nose
 Urine
 Uterus (womb)
Cardiology
 Cardi - root means heart.
 -ology - suffix means the study
of.
 Cardiology - the study of the
heart.
Nephritis
 Nephr - root words means kidney
 -itis suffix means inflammation
 Nephritis means inflammation of
the kidney
Break down and define the following
medical terms.
 pericarditis
 leukocyte
 hepatitis
 neuroplasty
pericarditis
Pericaridits
Peri-cardi-itis
means around means the heart means inflammation
leukocyte
 leuko- prefix means white
 cyte - root word means cell
 leukocyte means white cell
hepatitis
 hepat - root word means liver
 -itis - suffix means inflammation
 hepatitis - means inflammation of
the liver
neuroplasty
 neuro - root word means nerve or nerves
 -plasty - suffix means surgical repair
 neuroplasty means surgical repair of the nerve
Combining Forms
 Combining form consists of the word root and a connecting
vowel to make it easier to pronounce and attach another root
word or suffix.
 Combining form for heart is cardi
 Combining form associated with cells is cyt
Basic Rules for the Combining Vowel
 The combining vowel is not used when the suffix begins with
a vowel. (neuritis)
 The combining vowel is used when the suffix begins with a
consonant. (neuroplasty)
THE END