Basic elements of a medical word Flashcards
Word root (WR)
• _____ of the word that contains its main
meaning
• Usually derived from Latin or Greek language
• At least one word root in most medical words
• Some medical words, such as heart and blood,
derived from early versions of French and English versions without a word root
foundation
• Examples of words with roots
• hepatitis
• tonsillectomy
• gastroma
• laryngitis
Hepat
Tonsill
Gastr
Laryng
2)
• ______ (CF)
•is Created when a word root is combined with a
vowel, known as a combining vowel
• Combining vowel usually _____, but sometimes____
• Difficulty pronouncing certain combinations of
word roots requires insertion of a vowel
• No meaning of its own, but a combining vowel
enables two or more word elements to be
Connected
Combining form, an o
An I or an E
Examples of combining form
CFs
• mamm/o/gram
psych/o/logy
laryng/o/spasm
hepat/o/megaly
Ok
Contained in most medical words
• Usually an indication of a pathology, condition,
symptom, therapeutic or diagnostic procedure,
or part of speech
Suffix
appendic/itis
neur/oma
crani/o/tomy
gastr/o/scope
•gastr/oma
Apend/ectomy
Ok
Usually an indication of a number, time,
position, measurement, direction, or negation
Prefix
• Examples of words with ________
• hyper/tension
• hemi/plegia
• epi/derm/al
• post/nat/al
• inter- in inter/cost/al
Prefixes
3 steps to defining medical terms
Define the ______ first.
2. Define the ______ (WR, CF, or
prefix).
3. Define the ______ of the word (WR or
CF
Suffix
First part of the word
Middle
First part of the word
Middle part of a word
Last part
WR CF OR PREFIX
WR OR CF
Suffix
- gastr/itis:
- oste/o/arthr/itis:
- poly/neur/itis
Stomach inflammation
Bone joint inflammation
Many nerve inflammation
Three rules for building medical words
• Rule 1: A WR links a suffix that begins with a
_______.
• Rule 2: A ______ links a suffix that begins with a
consonant.
• Rule 3: A CF links a _____ to another _____ to form
a compound word.
• Rule 3 holds true even if the next root begins with a
______, as in gastr/o/intestin/al.
Vowel
CF
Root2x
Vowel
Name the rule used in each 1. arthr/itis:
2. gastr/o/intestin/al:
3. hepat/o/cyte:
Rule #1
Rule #3
Rule #2
Diacritical marks and capitalization help
with_____ of terms throughout the
text and understanding of pronunciation
marks used in most dictionaries.
• Pronunciation guidelines are located on the
inside front cover of the textbook and at the
end of “Anatomy and Physiology Key
Terms” tables.
Pronunciation
Latin :REN-Al
(Anatomical)
Greek: (conditions)
Nephr-Oma
Pertaining to the kidney
(Disease of the kidney ) tumor
