Medical Terminology

Question 1

Medical terms are compound words. What are compound words? Give an example.

Answer 1

When two or more (root) words combine to form a new single word or phrase. For example:

“serve” is a simple word and “neoconservatism” is a compound word.

Question 2

Medical terms which are compound words are made up of one or more of what?

Answer 2

• a root (or this is sometimes called a “stem”)
• combining vowels
• prefixes
• a suffix

Question 3

What does the ‘root’ part of a medical term relate to? Provide some examples.

Answer 3

The root is the part of the word that locates a word to a part of the body or a bodily function. For example:

• heart = cardi as in endocarditis; electrocardiogram; cardiomyopathy
• sodium= natr as in hyponatraemia; natriuresis

Question 4

What is the purpose of a ‘combining vowel’ in a term. Provide some examples.

Answer 4

To make it easier to say. For example:

• cardiomyopathy is easier to say than cardimypathy
• tachycardia is easier to say than tachcardia

Question 5

What are prefixes? Provide some examples.

Answer 5

They appear at the beginning of a word. For example:

• Leukocyte: white cell
• Osteocyte: bone cell

Question 6

Numbers can also be prefixes. Match the following words to their correct number.

Words: hemi or semi, a or an, multi or poly, olig or oligo, quad or tetra, tri or tris, bi bis di or duo, un uni or mono.

Number: none, half, one, two, three, four, many, poly, less/little/few, many.

Answer 6

A or an = none
Hemi or semi = half
Un, uni or mono = one
Bi, bis or duo = two
Tri or tris = three
Quad or tetra = four
Olig or oligo = less/little/few
Multi or poly = many

Question 7

Prefix ‘a’ or ‘an’ in a word means “none”. Give an example of a word and its meaning.

Answer 7

• anaesthesia means “without sensation”
• anaemia means “low haemoglobin levels” (which would be like being
  bloodless)

Question 8

Prefix ‘hemi’ or ‘semi’ in a word means “half”. Give an example of a word and its meaning.

Answer 8

The cerebrum is made up of two cerebral hemispheres.

Question 9

Prefix ‘olig’ or ‘oligo’ in a word means “less”, “little” or “few”. Give an example of a word and its meaning.

Answer 9

Oliguria means “producing less urine than is normal”.

Question 10

Prefix ‘multi’ or ‘poly’ in a word means “many”. Give an example of a word and its meaning.

Answer 10

Polydipsia means “excessive drinking” or “drinking too much” but in both cases this is restricted to non-alcoholic drinks.