Introduction to Medical Terminology and Human Body Concepts

A complete vocabulary flashcard deck covering primary medical terminology concepts, word parts, color combining forms, suffixes, prefixes, look-alike terms, body planes, cavities, directional terms, tissues, glands, genetics, and disease terms based on lecture notes.

Word Root

A word part that contains the basic meaning of the term and usually, but not always, indicates the involved body part.

Combining Form

A word root with a combining vowel (usually the letter 'o') added at the end, used when joining two word roots or adding a suffix starting with a consonant.

Suffix

A word part attached at the end of a word that usually, but not always, indicates the procedure, condition, disorder, or disease.

Prefix

A word part attached at the beginning of a word that usually, but not always, indicates location, time, number, or status.

Cyan/o

Combining form meaning blue.

Erythr/o

Combining form meaning red.

Leuk/o

Combining form meaning white.

Melan/o

Combining form meaning black.

Poli/o

Combining form meaning gray.

-algia

Suffix meaning pain and suffering.

-dynia

Suffix meaning pain.

-itis

Suffix meaning inflammation.

-malacia

Suffix meaning abnormal softening.

-megaly

Suffix meaning abnormal enlargement.

-necrosis

Suffix meaning tissue death.

-sclerosis

Suffix meaning abnormal hardening.

-stenosis

Suffix meaning abnormal narrowing.

-centesis

Suffix meaning surgical puncture to remove fluid.

-graphy

Suffix meaning process of producing a picture or record.

-gram

Suffix meaning picture or record.

-plasty

Suffix meaning surgical repair.

-scopy

Suffix meaning visual examination.

-rrhage / -rrhagia

Suffixes meaning bleeding, or abnormal excessive fluid discharge, most often describing sudden, severe bleeding.

-rrhaphy

Suffix meaning surgical suturing to close a wound.

-rrhea

Suffix meaning flow or discharge of body fluids.

-rrhexis

Suffix meaning rupture.

Prenatal

Refers to the time and events before birth.

Perinatal

Refers to the time and events surrounding birth (just before, during, and just after birth).

Postnatal

Refers to the time and events after birth.

-ectomy

Suffix meaning surgical removal, cutting out.

-ostomy

Suffix meaning the surgical creation of an artificial opening to the body surface.

-otomy

Suffix meaning cutting or a surgical incision.

Endarterial

Pertaining to the interior or lining of an artery.

Atheroma

A fatty deposit within the wall of an artery.

Arthralgia

Pain in a joint or joints.

Fissure

A groove or crack-like sore of the skin, or normal folds in the contours of the brain.

Fistula

An abnormal passage, usually between two internal organs or leading from an organ to the body surface.

Ileum

The last and longest portion of the small intestine.

Ilium

Part of the hip bone.

Infection

The invasion of the body by a pathogenic organism.

Malaise

A feeling of general discomfort or uneasiness that is often the first indication of an infection or other disease.

Exudate

Any fluid, such as pus, that leaks out of an infected wound.

Inflammation

A localized response to an injury or destruction of tissues characterized by erythema, hyperthermia, edema, and pain.

Mucous

Adjective that describes the specialized membranes lining body cavities.

Mucus

Noun referring to the fluid secreted by mucous membranes.

Mycosis

Any abnormal condition or disease caused by a fungus.

Myelopathy

Any pathologic change, injury, degeneration, or disease in the spinal cord.

Myopathy

Any pathologic change or disease of muscle tissue.

Laceration

A torn or jagged wound or an accidental cut.

Lesion

A pathologic change of the tissues due to disease or injury.

Palpation

An examination technique in which the examiner's hands are used to feel the texture, size, consistency, and location of certain body parts.

Palpitation

A pounding or racing heart.

Pyelitis

Inflammation of the renal pelvis.

Pyoderma

Any acute, inflammatory, pus-forming bacterial skin infection.

Pyrosis

Heartburn; discomfort due to the regurgitation of stomach acid upward into the esophagus.

Supination

The act of rotating the arm so that the palm of the hand is forward or upward.

Suppuration

The formation or discharge of pus.

Triage

The medical screening of patients to determine their relative priority of need and proper place of treatment.

Trauma

Wound or injury.

Sign

Objective evidence of disease, such as a fever, that can be evaluated or measured by others.

Symptom

Subjective evidence of a disease, such as pain or a headache, that can be evaluated or measured only by the patient.

Syndrome

A set of signs and symptoms that occur together as part of a specific disease process.

Differential Diagnosis

An attempt to determine which one of several possible diseases is causing the signs and symptoms present.

Prognosis

A prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disease.

Remission

The temporary, partial, or complete disappearance of the symptoms of a disease without having achieved a cure.

Eponym

A disease, structure, operation, or procedure named for the person who discovered or described it first.

Acronym

A word formed from the initial letter of the major parts of a compound term.

Anatomical Position

The standard body posture: standing erect, facing forward, holding arms at the sides with palms facing forward.

Anatomy

The study of the structures of the body.

Physiology

The study of the functions of the structures of the body.

Midsagittal Plane

The vertical plane (midline) that divides the body into equal left and right halves.

Transverse Plane

A horizontal plane that divides the body into superior (upper) and inferior (lower) portions.

Frontal Plane

A vertical plane (coronal plane) that divides the body into anterior (front) and posterior (back) portions.

Ventral

Refers to the front, or belly side, of the organ or body.

Dorsal

Refers to the back of the organ or body.

Proximal

Situated nearest the midline or beginning of a body structure.

Distal

Situated farthest from the midline or beginning of a body structure.

Homeostasis

The processes through which the body maintains a constant internal environment.

Peritoneum

A multilayered membrane that protects and holds the organs in place within the abdominal cavity.

Parietal Peritoneum

The outer layer of the peritoneum that lines the interior of the abdominal wall.

Visceral Peritoneum

The inner layer of the peritoneum that surrounds the organs of the abdominal cavity.

Retroperitoneal

Located behind the peritoneum.

Cytology

The study of the anatomy, physiology, pathology, and chemistry of the cell.

Cytoplasm

The material within the cell membrane that is not part of the nucleus.

Somatic Cell

Any cell in the body except the gametes (sex cells); contains 46 chromosomes arranged in 23 pairs.

Gamete

A sex cell (sperm or ovum) containing 23 single chromosomes.

Histology

The microscopic study of the structure, composition, and function of tissues.

Epithelial Tissue

Protective tissue covering all internal and external surfaces of the body and forming glands.

Endothelium

Specialized epithelial tissue that lines blood and lymph vessels, body cavities, glands, and organs.

Epithelium

Specialized epithelial tissue forming the epidermis of the skin and the surface layer of mucous membranes.

Aplasia

The defective development, or the congenital absence, of an organ or tissue.

Hypoplasia

The underdevelopment of an organ or tissue, usually due to a deficiency in the number of cells.

Anaplasia

A change in the structure of cells and in their orientation to each other, characteristic of most cancerous tumor formation.

Dysplasia

The abnormal development or growth of cells, or the presence of abnormal cells within a type of tissue.

Hyperplasia

An increase in the number of cells in a tissue or organ.

Hypertrophy

A general increase in the bulk of a body part or organ due to an increase in cell size, but not in cell number.

Exocrine Glands

Glands that secrete chemical substances into ducts leading either to other organs or out of the body.

Endocrine Glands

Ductless glands that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream.

Adenocarcinoma

A malignant tumor that originates in the glands and may spread to other parts of the body.

Adenoma

A benign tumor that starts in the epithelial tissue of a gland or gland-like structure.