Introduction To Healthcare Terminology Flashcards
gloss/o
Tongue
-ary
Pertaining to
-itis
Inflammation
bi-
Two
lingu/o
Tongue
-al
Pertaining to
sub-
Under, below
Combining Form
Word root with it’s respective combining vowel
Word Root
Word origin
Suffix
Word part that appears at the end of a term
Prefix
Word part that sometimes appears at the beginning of a term
Nondecodable terms
Words used in medicine whose definition must be memorized without the benefit of word parts.
Diagnosis
Evaluates a patient’s signs, symptoms, and history to determine a condition or disease
Prognosis
A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease or disorder
Sequela
A condition that results from an injury or disease
Acute
Abrupt, severe onset to a disease
Chronic
Develops slowly and lasts for a long time.
Sign
An objective finding of a disease state. (e.g. fever, high blood pressure)
Symptom
A subjective report of a disease.
(Pain, itching)
Asthma
A respiratory disorder characterized by recurring episodes of paroxysmal dyspnea (difficulty breathing).
Cataract
Progressive opacification of the lens
Decodable terms
Terms that can be broken into their Greek and Latin word parts and given a working definition based on the meanings of those word parts.
Eponym
Terms named after a person or place associated with the term.
(e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Achilles tendon)
Simple Abbreviations
A combination of letters (often, but not always the first significant word parts) and sometimes numbers.
(e.g., IM=intramuscular, C2=second cervical vertebrae)
Acronym
Abbreviations that are also pronounceable.
(e.g., CABG=Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, TURP=Transurethral Resection of the Prostate)
Symbols
Graphic representation of terms.
(➕ stands for present, ➖ stands for absent, ⬆️ stands for increased, ⬇️ stands for decreased, ♀️stands for female, ♂️ stands for male)
Card Method
Four step method to decipher the meanings of healthcare terms.
CHECK for the word parts in a term.
ASSIGN meanings to the word parts.
REVERSE the meanings to the word parts.
DEFINE the term.
arthr/o
joint
gastro/o
Stomach
ophthalm/o
Eye
ot/o
Ear
rhin/o
Nose
hepat/
Liver
-algia
Pain
-tomy
Incision
-scope
Instrument to view
-logy
Study of
-plasty
Surgical repair
cut/o
Skin
-icle
Small
hypo-
Under, deficient
derm/o
Skin
-is
Structure
arteri/o
Artery
-ole
Small
ven/o
Vein
-ule
Small
endo-
Within
cardio/o
Heart
-um
Structure
a-
No, not, without
troph/o
Development
-y
Process of
-ac
Pertaining to
-al
Pertaining to
cervic/o
Neck
-ar
Pertaining to
valvul/o
Valve
-eal
Pertaining to
coron/o
Heart, crown
esophag/o
Esophagus
-ic
Pertaining to
cutane/o
Skin
-ous
Pertaining to
-cele
Herniation
cyst/o
Bladder, sac
cephal/o
Head
-dynia
Pain
-emia
Blood condition
hyper-
Excessive
lipid/o
Fat
-ia
Condition
enter/o
Small intestine
-malacia
Softening
chondr/o
Cartilage
-megaly
Enlargement
splen/o
Spleen
-oma
Tumor, mass
oste/o
Bone
-osis
Abnormal condition
psych/o
Mind
-pathy
Disease process
-ptosis
Prolapse, drooping, sagging
hyster/o
Uterus
-rrhage
Bursting forth
-rrhagia
Bursting forth
hem/o
Blood
-rrhea
Discharge, flow
-rrhexis
Rupture
-sclerosis
Abnormal condition of hardening
-stenosis
Abnormal condition of narrowing
trache/o
Trachea, windpipe
-graphy
Process of recording
-metry
Process of measuring
-opsy
Process of viewing
-scopy
Process of viewing
mamm/o
Breast
spir/o
Breathing
bi/o
Living, life
duoden/o
Duodenum
-centesis
Surgical puncture
amni/o
Amnion
-ectomy
Removal, resection, excision
tonsill/o
Tonsil
-rrhaphy
Suture, repair
-stomy
New opening
col/o
Colon, large intestine
-tomy
Incision, cutting
-tripsy
Crushing
lith/o
Stone
-graph
Instrument to record
-meter
Instrument to measure
-scope
Instrument to view
-tome
Instrument to cut
-tripter
Machine to crush
-trite
Instrument to crush
-er
One who
-iatrician
One who specializes in treatment
poly-
Many, much, excessive, frequent
somn/o
Sleep
ger/o
Old age
-iatrics
Treatment
ped/o
Children, foot
-iatrist
One who specializes in treatment
-iatry
Process of treatment
psych/o
Mind
dent/i
Teeth
-ist
One who specializes
-logist
One who specializes in the study of
-logy
Study of
neo-
New
nat/o
Born, birth
a-
No, not, without
pne/o
Breathing
an-
No, not, without
ante-
Forward, in front of, before
vers/o
Turning
anti-
Against
bacteri/o
Bacteria
dys-
Abnormal, difficult, bad, painful
endo-
Within
end-
Within
epi-
Above, upon
hyper-
Excessive, above
hypo-
Below, deficient
glyc/o
Sugar, glucose
inter-
Between
vertebr/o
Vertebra, backbone
intra-
Within
muscul/o
Muscle
par-
Near, beside
para-
Near, beside, abnormal
phil/o
Attraction
per-
Through
peri-
Surrounding, around
post-
After, behind
neur/o
Nerve
pre-
Before, in front of
sub-
Under, below
trans-
Through, across
urethr/o
Urethra
