Roots, Prefixes, Suffixes and Combining Forms Flashcards
Why use medical terms?
You must learn medical terms to understand conditions.
Gastritis meaning
gastritis:
Gastr- refers to the stomach, and –itis refers to
inflammation, therefore gastritis means inflammation of the stomach.
gastrotomy meaning
gastrotomy:
Gastr- refers to stomach, and –tomy refer to
incision, therefore gastrotomy means incision made into the stomach.
root word: cardi
meaning: heart
cerebr
brain, cerebrum
col, colon
colon (section of large intestine)
crani
cranium, skull
dermat
skin
disk
disk (disk of spine)
gastr
stomach
oste
bone
nephr, ren
kidney
pulmon
lung
skull
crani
heart
cardi
stomach
gastr
colon
col, colon
kidney
nephr, ren
Prefixes are a second type of word part.
● Pre- means _______
● Prefix is the word part that comes before the word root in a medical term.
(e.g., prenatal).
before
Prefixes always contribute to the ______ of the term, usually by simply adding the meaning of the prefix to the word root.
❖ Example: post- means after, so post-surgical means _______ ______.
meaning; after surgery
pre
before
post
after, behind
peri
around, surrounding
intra
within
inter
between
sub, infra
below, beneath
supra, super
above
a-, an-
without, not
poly
many, much
dys
painful, difficult, abnormal
give the prefix of without, not
a-, an-
give the prefix of above
supra, super
give the prefix of below
sub, infra
Suffixes are a third type of word part.
● Suffixes is the word part that comes _____ the word root.
❖ Example: the suffix –ac and –al means “pertaining to”
after
cardiac meaning
pertaining to the heart
cranial
pertaining to the skull
Suffixes always contribute to the meaning of the term, usually by simply
adding the meaning of the suffix to the word root (and prefix if present)
● Example: post- means after, so post-surgical means _____ _______.
after surgery
suffix: -ac, -al, -ary, -ic, -ous
pertaining to
algia
pain
ectomy
excision, surgical removal
gram
record, recording
ism, ia
condition of
itis
inflammation
ium
tissue, structure
logy
study of
oma
tumor
tomy
incision
A combining vowel is a word part that is used but does not carry a meaning.
● It is a vowel (usually “o” and sometimes “I” or “e”) that is added to the word root to make it easier to pronounce the term; often added after
the word root and before joining another root or a suffix.
● Example: adding the suffix –logy directly to the word root “dermat” you
would get “dermatlogy”, it sounds less off when you add the “o” making
it “dermatology”
● The result of combining the combining vowel along the word root is
called a _________ ______.
combining form
Instead of learning the word root cardi, we will learn cardi/o: the slash is
used to indicate that depending on the other word part following the
combining form, the combining vowel may or may not be used.
❖ E.g.: peri + cardi/o + -ium = ________________ (tissue around the heart) – the “o” is not used.
❖ E.g., cardi/o + -logy = ________ (study of the heart) – the “o” is
used.
pericardium; cardiology
If combining form (without the optional vowel) ends with the same vowel that the suffix begins with, then the vowel is _________ to prevent repetition. (example: pericardium)
dropped
combining form: cardi/o
meaning: heart
cerebr/o
brain, cerebrum
col/o, colon/o
colon
crani/o
cranium, skull
deramt/o
skin
disk/o
disk
gastr/o
stomach
nephro/o, ren/o
kidney
oste/o
bone
pulmon/o
lung
Rules for putting the parts together
- Use the combining vowel when a combining form is joined to a suffix that does not begin with a vowel.
nephr/o (kidney) + -logy (study of) = nephrology (study of the
kidneys) - Do not use the combining vowel when a combining form is joined to a
suffix that does begin with a vowel:
Arthr/o (joint) + -itis (inflammation) = arthritis (no o)
(inflammation of the joint). - And if the suffix begins with the same vowel as the combining form
ends with, do not repeat it:
cardi/o + -itis = carditis. - Use the combining vowel when two combining forms are joined together:
my/o (muscle) + cardi/o (heart) + -al = myocardial (pertaining to the heart muscle).
Note that this rule holds true usually even if the second combining form already begins with a vowel:
oste/o (bone) + arthr/o (joint) + -itis = osteoarthritis (inflammation
of the bone and joint)
Intra- + crani/o + -al = __________________ (pertaining to within the skull)
Intracranial
Sub- + pulmon/o + -ary= ______________ (pertaining to below the lungs)
Subpulmonary
Cardi/o + -gram= ________________ (record of heart activity)
Cardiogram
Oste/o + -algia= _________________ (pain in a bone)
Ostealgia
Gastr/o + -tomy: _________________ (incision into the stomach)
Gastrotomy
Some medical terms also add an –s (or –es) to make a plural, but many
do not.
● They have special endings related to their origins in Greek or Latin.
❖ Example: if the singular ends in ___ (vertebra – one bone in the spine),
then the plural ends in ____ (vertebrae – the bones in the spine)
● The special plurals do not occur in all terms ending in those letters so you
must learn the plural form when you learn the term.
a;ae
a/ae plural ending example
vertebra, vertebrae
en/ina plural ending example
lumen, lumina
ex, ix,yx/ices plural ending example
index, indices
is/es plural ending example
ankylosis, ankyloses,
on/a plural ending example
phenomenon, phenomena;
spermatozoon, spermatozoa
um/a plural ending example
diverticulum, diverticula; atrium, atria
us/i plural ending example
nucleus, nuclei; glomerulus, glomeruli
x, nx/ges, nges plural ending example
phalanx, phalanges
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
1. Embolus (clot) ________________
Emboli
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
2. Varicosis (swollen vein) ______________
Varicoses
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
3. Aorta (vessel if heart) ________________
Aortae
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
4. Larynx (voice box) ________________
larynges
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
5. Ulcer ________________________
ulcers
The pronunciation is indicated with letter of the alphabet and ______ marks (‘) that indicate which syllable (or syllables) should be accented.
stress
To define a term based on its word parts:
- Begin by analyzing the meaning of the suffix.
- Then analyze the meaning of the prefix (if present).
- Then analyze the meaning of the root or roots.
define intracerebral based on its word parts
intra- (within) + cerebr/o (brain) + -al (pertaining to)
= pertaining to the brain
nephrectomy meaning
kidney + incision
=surgical removal of kidney
arthritis meaning
joint + inflammation of
=inflammation of joint
pulmonary meaning
lung
=issues relating to lungs
colonitis
colon + inflammation of
=inflammation of colon
osteal
bone (oste) + relating to (al)
= relating to the bone
cardiotomy
heart (cardio) + incision (tomy)
=surgical removal of heart
what’s the term for inflammation of the skin?
skin (dermat) + inflammation (itis)
=dermatitis
what’s the term for pertaining to the area around the heart?
pertaining to (al) + heart (cardio)
=cardial
what’s the term for surgical removal of a disk?
surgical removal (tomy) + disk (disk/o)
=diskotomy
or excision (ectomy) + disk
= diskectomy
what’s the term for tumour of bone?
bone (oste) + tumour (oma)
osteoma
what’s the term for pertaining to the kidney?
pertaining to (al) + kidney (nephr, ren)
renal
Medical terms include the following basic parts:
- Word root: main part of the word (crani)
- Prefix: word part added before the root (intra-)
- Suffix: word part added after the root (-al)
inta- + crani + -al = intracranial
