Medical Terminology Introduction & Building Medical Terms

Medical Terminology Medical terminology is comprised of root words, prefixes, suffixes and combining forms Most of these parts are derived from Greek or Latin roots

Medical Terminology Correct spelling of these terms is imperative due to the critical circumstances in which they are used Pronunciation usually follows the rules of the English language

Medical Terminology Pronunciations: ~ c and g have the soft sounds of s or j, respectively, before e, i, & y ~ c and g have harsh sounds before a, o, and u ~ ch is sometimes pronounced like k

Medical Terminology Pronunciations: ~ ps is pronounced like s ~ pn is pronounced like n ~ ae is pronounced like ee ~ i at the end of a word is a long i

Medical Terminology

Medical Terminology Memorizing commonly used roots, prefixes and suffixes makes learning new terminology a simple task

Medical Terminology Root words are the basic descriptive part of a medical term: ~ usually accompanied by prefixes, suffixes or both ~ many times followed by a combining vowel forming a combining form

Medical Terminology Root words are the basic descriptive part of a medical term: ~ combining vowels are used with suffixes that start with a consonant and with other combining forms

Medical Terminology Root words are the basic descriptive part of a medical term: ~ combining vowels are dropped when the combining form is added to a suffix beginning with a vowel

Medical Terminology Terms containing two root words are called compound words

Medical Terminology Root word examples: ~ arthr(joint) ~ card(heart) ~ cephal(head) ~ pod(foot) ~ ophthalm(eye)

Medical Terminology Root word examples: ~ cyt(cell) ~ calc(calcium) ~ aut(self) ~ chrom(color) ~ morph(shape)

Medical Terminology Root word examples: ~ gloss(tongue) ~ pneum(air) ~ gastr(stomach) ~ leuk(white) ~ hydr(water)

Medical Terminology Root word examples: Greek Latin ~ nephr* ren (kidney) ~ derma* cut (skin) ~ stomat* or (mouth) ~ carcin* cancer (cancer)

Medical Terminology Prefixes are terminology parts that are placed before the root word to modify its meaning: ~ not affected by combining vowels ~ followed by a hyphen if written to stand alone

Medical Terminology Prefix examples: ~ hyper-(above) ~ hypo-(below) ~ pseudo-(false) ~ dys-(bad) ~ de-(reversing) ~ poly-(many) ~ an-(not) ~ a-(not)

Medical Terminology Prefix examples: ~ re-(again) ~ mono-(one) ~ uni-(one) ~ bi-(two) ~ di-(two) ~ tri-(three) ~ tetra-(four) ~ quad-(four)

Medical Terminology Prefix examples: ~ co-(together) ~ syn-(together) ~ dis-(apart) ~ ex-(out) ~ extra-(outside of) ~ intra-(inside) ~ endo-(inside) ~ peri-(around)

Medical Terminology Prefix examples: ~ pro-(before) ~ pre-(before) ~ ante-(before) ~ post-(after) ~ anti-(against) ~ meso-(middle) ~ dia-(through) ~ eu-(true)

Medical Terminology Suffixes are terminology parts that are placed after the root word to modify its meaning: ~ does affect the combining vowel ~ proceeded by a hyphen if written to stand alone

Medical Terminology Suffix examples: ~ -ology(study of) ~ -itis(inflammation) ~ -ia(condition of) ~ -crine(secrete) ~ -lytic(destroy) ~ -tomy(cut into) ~ -pathy(disease)

Medical Terminology Suffix examples: ~ -ic(pertaining to) ~ -al(pertaining to) ~ -eal(pertaining to) ~ -il(pertaining to) ~ -dyna(pain) ~ -algia(pain) ~ -emia(blood)

Medical Terminology Suffix examples: ~ -oid(form) ~ -megaly(enlargement) ~ -phobia(fear of) ~ -ose(sugar) ~ -ase(enzyme) ~ -penia(deficiency) ~ -osis(condition)

Medical Terminology PrefixSuffix Root word Combining form peri--itisophthalm periophthalmitis

Medical Terminology peri- hepat(o) -itis prefix root word combining form suffix Perihepatitis – Inflammation around the liver

Medical Terminology PrefixSuffix dys--pnea dyspnea

Medical Terminology Suffix Root word Combining form -ologyenter(o) gastroenterology Root word Combining form gastr(o)

Medical Terminology Plural endings: ~ the most common are -s, -es & -ies ~ -es for the singular -is ~ -a for the singular -um ~ -i for the singular -us ~ -ices for the singular -ex ~ -ices for the singular -is

Medical Terminology Plural endings: ~ -ae for the singular -a ~ -s or -mata for the singular -ma ~ -nges for the singular -nx ~ -a for the singular -on ~ -aces for the singular -ax