Medical Terminology: Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms

This document provides an overview of medical terminology. It begins by defining key elements of medical words such as prefixes, suffixes, roots, and combining forms. It serves as an introduction to medical terminology by defining the basic structures of medical words and providing many examples of prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

Basic Elements of the Medical Word

The basic elements of the medical word include the following components:

• Prefix
• Root
• Combining Form
• Suffix
• Combining vowel

A disease may be described by a phrase, one word, English, Latin, or Greek. To understand these descriptions, it is necessary to analyze the component word parts.

Prefixes Pertaining to Direction and Position

• Ab-: Away from (Example: Abnormal)
• Ad-: Toward, near (Example: Adrenal gland)
• Dia-, Per-: Through, complete (Examples: Dialysis, Percutaneous)
• Trans-: Across (Example: Transfusion)
• Ambi-: Both, around (Example: Ambilateral)
• Ana-: Up, apart, backward (Example: Anabolism)
• Cata-: Down (Example: Catabolism)
• End/o-, Intra-, En-: In, inside, within (Examples: Endoscope, Intracellular)
• Epi-: Above, upon (Example: Epigastric)
• Ex/o-, Extra-: Away from, outside, exterior (Examples: Exophthalamos, Extracellular)
• Infra-, Infer-, Hypo-: Below, under, low (Examples: Infrared radiation, Hypotension)
• Inter-: Between (Example: Interstitial fluid)
• Para-: Beside, alongside (Example: Paraplegia)
• Peri-, Circum-: Around (Example: Peri-anal)
• Retr/o-: Backward (Example: Retroperitoneal)
• Sub-: Under (Example: Subgastric)

Prefixes Pertaining to Numbers and Quantity

• Prim/i-, prot/o-: First (Example: Primigravida)
• Mon/o-, Uni-: One, single (Examples: Monoclonal, Unicellular)
• Duo-, Bi-, Di-, Dis-, Bin-: Two, twice (Example: Bicuspid, Diplegia)
• Tri-: Three, third (Example: Triad)
• Quadr/i-, Tetra-: Four (Example: Quadrant)
• Penta-, Quint-: Five
• Multi-, Poly-: Many, much (Examples: Multiple, Polymorphic)
• Olig/o-: Few (Example: Oligospermia)
• Pan-: All (Example: Panplegia)

Prefixes Pertaining to Colors

• Cyan/o: Blue (Example: Cyanosis)
• Erythr/o, Rub: Red (Example: Erythrocyte)
• Leuk/o, Alb/i, Candidus: White, colorless (Examples: Leukocyte, Albinism)
• Melan/o, Nigr/o: Black (Example: Melanin)
• Poli/o, Glauc/o: Grey (Example: Polioencephalitis)
• Chlor/o, Verd/o: Green (Example: Chlorophyll)
• Xanth/o, Icter/o: Yellow (Example: Xanthoma)
• Cirrh/o: Brown (Example: Cirrhosis)

Prefixes Pertaining to Disease, Size, and Comparison

• Brady-: Slow (Example: Bradycardia)
• Tachy-: Rapid (Example: Tachypnea)
• Dys-: Painful, difficult, abnormal (Example: Dyspnea)
• Eu-: True, good, easy (Example: Eukaryotic)
• Heter/o: Other, different, unequal (Example: Heterosexual)
• Homo-, Homeo-: Same, unchanging (Example: Homothermic)
• Iso-: Equal, same (Example: Isograft)
• Macro-, Mega-, Megalo-: Large, abnormally large (Example: Macroscopic)
• Micro-: Small (Example: Micro-organism)
• Neo-: New (Example: Neonate)
• Pseudo-: False (Example: Pseudoparalysis)

Suffixes and Pronunciation

A suffix is the word ending; all terms have only one suffix. Pronunciation of medical terms often involves silent letters and unusual pronunciations at the start of a word:

• Ch: Pronounced as K (Example: Chemical)
• Dys: Pronounced as Dis (Example: Dystrophy)
• Eu: Pronounced as U (Example: Euphoria)
• Gn: Pronounced as N (Example: Gnathic)
• Ph: Pronounced as F (Example: Pharma)

Common Combining Forms

• adeno-: Gland
• adip/o-: Fat
• angi/o-: Vessel
• arthr/o-: Joint, articulation
• cardi/o-: Heart
• cephal-: The head
• cervic/o-: Neck or uterine cervix
• cyt-: Cell
• derm-: Skin
• gastr/o-: Stomach, belly
• gloss/o-: Tongue
• gluco-, glyco-: Sugar, glucose

The analysis and building of medical terms from these component word parts allow for a precise description of anatomy, pathology, procedures, and body systems.