Medical Terminology: Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms

Vocabulary flashcards covering medical combining forms, suffixes, prefixes, and clinical conditions from Chapter 4 of The Language of Medicine.

carp/o

wrist bones

cis/o

cut

cost/o

rib

cutane/o

skin

dactyl/o

fingers, toes

duct/o

lead, carry

flex/o

bend

gloss/o

tongue

glyc/o

sugar

immun/o

protection

morph/o

shape, form

mort/o

death

nat/i

birth

norm/o

rule, order

ox/o

oxygen

pub/o

pubis; anterior portion of hip bone

seps/o

infection

somn/o

sleep

son/o

sound

the/o

put, place

theli/o

nipple

tens/o

force, strain, stretch

thyr/o

thyroid gland; shield

top/o

place, position, location

tox/o

poison

trache/o

windpipe, trachea

urethr/o

urethra

-crine

secrete

-drome

run

-fusion

coming together; to pour

-gea

substance that produces

-lapse

slide, fall, sag

-lysis

breakdown, destruction, separation

-meter

measure

-mission

send

-or

one who

-oxia

oxygen

-partum

birth, labor

-phoria

bear, carry; feeling

-physis

grow

-plasia

development, formation, growth

-plasm

structure or formation

-pnea

breathing

-ptom

happening

-ptosis

falling, drooping, prolapse

-rrhea

flow, discharge

-stasis

stopping, controlling

-trophy

development, nourishment

a-, an-

no, not, without

ab-

away from

ad-

toward

ana-

up, apart

ante-

before, forward

anti-

against

auto-

self, own

bi-

two

brady-

slow

cata-

down

con-

with, together

contra-

against, opposite

de-

down, lack of

dia-

through, complete

dys-

abnormal, bad, painful, difficult

ec-

out, outside

endo-

in, within

epi-

upon, on, above

eu-

good, normal

ex-

out, outside

hemi-

half

hyper-

excessive, above

hypo-

deficient, under

in- (prefix 1)

not

in- (prefix 2)

into, within

infra-

beneath, under

inter-

between

intra-

in, within, into

macro-

large

mal-

bad

meta-

beyond, change

micro-

small

neo-

new

pan-

all

para-

abnormal, beside, near

per-

through

peri-

surrounding

poly-

many, much

post-

after, behind

pre-

before, in front of

pro-

before, forward

pros-

before, forward

re-

back, again

retro-

behind, backward

sub-

under

supra-

above, upper

syn-, sym-

together, with

tachy-

fast

trans-

across, through

ultra-

beyond, excess

uni-

one

Antigen

A substance, usually foreign to the body, that stimulates the production of antibodies.