MRI
magnetic resonance imaging
US
ultrasound
a medical word consists of some or all of the following elements:
-word root
-combining form
-suffix
-prefix
word root
the foundation of a medical term and contains its primary meaning
dermatos and cutane refer to
skin
Greek roots describe:
disease, condition, treatment, or diagnosis
Latin roots describe:
anatomical structures
dermatos (Gr)
word root: demat
-refers to skin
cutis (L)
word root: cutane
-refers to skin
dermatitis
inflammation of the skin, a Greek term used to describe an inflammatory condition of the skin
cutaneous
pertaining to the skin, term that identifies an anatomical structure
nephros (Gr)
word root: nephr
-refers to kidney
renes (L)
word root: ren
-refers to kidney
nephroma
tumor of the kidney, a tumor (benign or malignant) of kidney tissue
renal
pertains to the kidney, term that identifies an anatomical structure
stomatos (Gr)
word root: stomat
-refers to mouth
oris (L)
word root: or
-refers to mouth
stomatitis
inflammation of the mouth
oral
pertaining to the mouth, a term that identifies an anatomical structure
combining form
created when a word root is combined with a vowel, the basic foundation to which other word elements are added to build a complete medical word
combining vowel
is usually an "o" but is sometimes an "i
erythr/o
red
gastr/o
stomach
hepat/o
liver
immun/o
immune, immunity, safe
nephr/o
kidney
oste/o
bone
suffix
a word element placed at the end of a word that alters its meaning , usually describes a pathology (disease or abnormality), symptom, surgical or diagnostic procedure, or part of speech
-itis
inflammation
-pathy
disease
to link a suffix that begins with a vowel, use a
word root
to link a suffix that begins with a consonant, use a
combining form
gastr/itis
inflammation of the stomach
-megaly
enlargement
gastr/o/megaly
enlargement of the stomach
-oma
tumor
hepat/oma
tumor of the liver
-cyte
cell
hepat/o/cytes
cells in the liver
prefix
a word element attached to the beginning of a word or word root, usually indicate a number, time, position, direction, or negation
an-
without, not
hyper-
excessive, above normal
intra-
in, within
para-
near, beside, beyond
poly-
many, much
pre-
before
esthes
feeling
therm
heat
muscul
muscle
nas
nose
ur
urine
nat
birth
-ia
condition
-ar
pertaining to
-al
pertaining to
an/esthes/ia
condition of not feeling
hyper/therm/ia
condition of excessive heat
intra/musclu/ar
pertaining to within the muscle
para/nas/al
pertaining to (area) near the nose
poly/ur/ia
condition of much urine
pre/nat/al
pertaining to before birth
steps to defining medical words:
1. define the suffix
2. define the first part of the word
3. define the middle parts of the word
enter
intestine
chondr
cartilage
arthr
joint
osteochondritis
inflammation of bone and cartilage
osteoarthritis
inflammation of bone and joint
cholecyst
gallbladder
pancreat
pancreas
append
appendix
splen
spleen
colon
colon
hyster
uterus
neur
nerve
ot
ear
hydr
water
nephritis
inflammation of the kidney
arthrodesis
fixation of a joint
dentist
specialist in teeth
gastrectomy
excision of the stomach
chondritis
inflammation of cartilage
hepatoma
tumor of the liver
muscular
pertaining to muscle
gastric
pertaining to the stomach
osteoma
tumor of the bone
cholangi
bile vessel
the diacritical mark "-" is called a
macron
the diacritical mark "short vowel sound" is called a
breve
For "ae" and "oe', only the _______ vowel is pronounced
second
the soft sound of "s" and "j" are given _____ and _____, respectively, before "e", "i" and "y" in words of Greek or Latin origin
c" and "g
before other letters "c" and "g" have a ____ sound
hard
the letters "ch" are sometimes pronounced like
k
when "pn" appears at the ______ of a word, "p" is silent and only "n" is pronounced
beginning
when "pn" appears in the _____ of a word, "p" and "n" are pronounced
middle
when "ps" appears at the _______ of a word, "p" is silent and only the "s" is pronounced
beginning
when forming the final letter(s) of a word, "e" and "es" are commonly pronounced as
separate syllables
when "i" appears at the end of a word (to form a plural), it is pronounced
eye