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Introduction to Medical
Terminology
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Introduction
• Special vocabulary used by health care professionals
for effective and accurate communication
• Most medical terms have Greek or Latin origins.
• These terms date back to the founding of modern
medicine by the Greeks and by the influence of
Latin when it was the universal language in the
Western world.
• Other languages, such as German and French, have
also influenced medical terms.
• Today, many new terms are derived from English,
which is considered the universal language.
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1. psychology: the study of
2. pathology: the study of
3. hematology: the study of
4. cardiology: the study of
5. dermatology: the study of
6. gerontology: the study of
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Good news!??
• The good news is that there are only about
300 Latin and Greek word elements,
• From which thousands of medical terms
may be formed.
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TERM COMPONENTS
• Most medical terms have three basic component
parts: the root, the suffix, and the prefix.
• Each term is formed by combining at least one
root (the foundation or subject of the word),
and a suffix (the word ending that modifies and
gives essential meaning to the root).
• A prefix is placed at the beginning of a term only
when needed, to further modify the root or
roots.
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• Root
– Fundamental unit of each medical word
– Establishes basic meaning of word
– Part to which prefixes and suffixes are added
• Suffix
– Short word part or parts added to the end of a
word
– Modifies the meaning of the root
– Indicated by a dash before the suffix (-itis)
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• Prefix
– Short word part added before a root
– Modifies the meaning of the root
– Followed by a dash (pre-)
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EXERCISE 1
• Breaking down and defining the key
components in a term often defines the term or
gives clues to its meaning. In the term lipemia,
lip is the ………..that means………… , and emia is the…………. that means……..
• (root, fat, suffix, blood condition)
• Memorizing key medical term components
makes it possible to decipher that the term
refers to the condition of ……..in the…….
• (fat, blood)
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PATTERNS OF TERM FORMATION
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1. Root/Suffix
• cardi/ac means……
• pertaining to the heart
2. Prefix/Root/Suffix
• epi/card/ium means….
• structure or tissue upon the heart
3. Prefix/Prefix/Root/Suffix
• sub/endo/cardi/al means
• pertaining to below or under and within the heart
4. Root/Combining Vowel/Root/Suffix
• cardi/o/vascul/ar means
• pertaining to the heart and vessels
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5. Root/Combining Vowel/Suffix
• cardi/o/logy means
• study of the heart
6. Root/Combining Vowel/Suffix (Symptomatic)
• cardi/o/dynia means
• pain in the heart
7. Root/Combining Vowel/Suffix (Diagnostic)
• cardi/o/rrhexis means
• rupture of the heart
8. Root/Combining Vowel/Suffix (Operative)
• cardi/o/rrhaphy means
• suture of the heart
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Exceptions
• Most medical terms are formed by combining a root or
roots and modified by suffixes and prefixes.
• Occasionally, terms are formed by a root alone or a
combination of roots.
• Example: duct
|
Root
to lead
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ovi/duct
|
|
Root/Root
|
|
egg/to lead
• Oviduct refers to the uterine tube.
• Sometimes, a term is formed from the
combination of a prefix and suffix.
• Example: meta/stasis
|
|
Prefix/Suffix
| |
beyond, after, or change/stop or stand
• Metastasis refers to the spread of a disease,
such as cancer, from one location to another.
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COMBINING FORMS AND
COMBINING VOWELS
• 1. psych o logy = psychology
• 2. path o logy = pathology
• When a medical term has more than one root, the roots are
joined together by a vowel, usually an “o.”
• the “o” is used to link the two parts and it provides easier
pronunciation.
• This vowel is known as a combining vowel.
• “O” is the most common combining vowel (i is the second
most common) and is used so frequently to join root to root
or root to suffix that it is routinely attached to the root and
presented as a combining form.
• A combining form is…….. a with a………. attached.
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DEFINING MEDICAL TERMS THROUGH
WORD STRUCTURE ANALYSIS
• You can usually define a term by interpreting the
suffix first, then the prefix (if present), then the
root or roots.
• Example: pericarditis
• peri/
card/
itis
|
|
|
prefix
root
suffix
|
|
|
• around
heart
inflammation
• pericarditis
(inflammation around the heart)
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• Beginning students often have difficulty
differentiating between prefixes and roots (or
combining forms) because the root appears first
in a medical term when a prefix is not used.
• It is important to memorize the most common
prefixes so that you can tell the difference.
• Also, keep in mind that a prefix is used only as
needed to further modify the root or roots.
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RULES FOR FORMING AND SPELLING
MEDICAL TERMS
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F IVE BASIC RULES
FOR FORMING AN D SPELLING M EDICAL
TERMS
1. If the root ends in a consonant (any letter except
a, e, i, o, u) and the suffix begins with a
consonant, insert a combining vowel (usually an
“o”) between the component parts
• hepat/o -megaly is spelled hepatomegaly and is
defined as……….
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2. A combining vowel is not used before a suffix that begins
with vowel: vas/o -ectomy is spelled vasectomy and is
defined as…….
3. If the root ends in a vowel and the suffix begins with the
same vowel, drop the final vowel from the root and do not
use a combining vowel: cardi/o -itis is spelled carditis and
is defined as……..
4. Most often, a combining vowel is inserted between two
roots even when the second root begins with a vowel:
cardi/o esophag/o -eal is spelled cardioesophageal and is
defined as………..
5. Occasionally, when a prefix ends in a vowel, and the root
begins with a vowel, the final vowel is dropped from the
prefix: para- enter/o -al is spelled parenteral and is defined
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as……..
EXERCISE 2
1. angi/o -ectasis is spelled……and means………
• angiectasis
• expansion or dilation of a vessel
2. hemat/o -logy is spelled…… and means…..
• hematology
• study of blood
3. gastr/o enter/o -stomy is spelled….and means…
• gastroenterostomy
• creation of an opening (between) stomach and small
intestine
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5. oligo- ur/o -ia is spelled…… and means…….
• oliguria
• condition of defcient urine
6. oste/o -ectomy is spelled…… and means…….
• ostectomy
• excision (removal) of bone
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SPELLING MEDICAL TERMS
• Correct spelling of medical terms is crucial for
communication among health care professionals.
• Careless spelling causes misunderstandings that can have
serious consequences.
• The following list shows some of the pitfalls to avoid.
1. Some words sound the same but are spelled differently
and have different meanings. Context is the clue to
spelling.
For example,
• ileum (part of the intestine) and ilium (part of the hip
bone)
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• sitology
(study of food) cytology (study of cells)
2. Other words sound similar but are spelled
differently and have different meanings. For
example,
• abduction (to draw away from) adduction (to draw
toward)
• hepatoma (liver tumor) hematoma (blood tumor)
• aphagia (inability to swallow) aphasia (inability to
speak)
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3. Some words have more than one accepted
spelling. For example,
• orthopedic orthopaedic
• leukocyte leucocyte
4. Some combining forms have the same meaning
but different origins that compete for usage.
For example,
three combining forms mean uterus:
• hyster/o (Greek)
• metr/o (Greek)
• uter/o (Latin)
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RULES OF PRONUNCIATION
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Abbreviations
• Can save time
• May cause confusion
• Acronym = abbreviation formed from first
letter of each word in a phrase
– ASAP = as soon as possible
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