Medical Terminology - Chapter 1: Introduction

Vocabulary flashcards covering medical term structures, word origins, roots, prefixes, suffixes, and commonly confused medical terms.

Root

The element that provides the core meaning of a medical term and serves as its constant foundation.

Combining Form

A root plus a combining vowel (such as the letter O) that joins roots to other elements in a medical term.

pneum- / pneuma-

A Greek root meaning lung or air.

pulmon-

A Latin root meaning lung.

resper-

A root meaning to breathe.

bronch-

A root derived from the Greek word for windpipe, representing one of the two subdivisions of the trachea that carry air to and from the lungs.

Suffix

A group of letters positioned at the end of a medical term that attaches to a root or combining form.

Diagnostic Suffixes

Suffixes that, when added to a root or combining form, produce a medical term representing a diagnosis, procedure, or test to identify an illness.

Surgical Suffixes

Suffixes added to a root or combining form that describe invasive surgical procedures performed on the body.

Pathologic Suffixes

Suffixes added to a root or combining form that describe a symptom or sign of a disease process.

Adjectival Suffixes

Suffixes used as adjectives to describe the root, such as -ac, -ar, or -ior, meaning pertaining to.

Noun Suffixes

Suffixes that maintain the root or combining form as a noun rather than an adjective or procedure.

Prefix

A letter or group of letters added directly to the beginning of a root or combining form that does not require a combining vowel.

Virus

A solid medical term derived from a Latin word meaning poison.

Toxin

A Greek word meaning poison, defined as a poisonous substance formed by a cell such as a bacterium.

Medical

Derived from a Latin term meaning to heal, defined as pertaining to the practice of medicine.

Care

An Old English word meaning to worry, defined as looking after and being concerned about patients.

Breath

An Old English word meaning a single cycle of inhaling and exhaling.

Cough

An Old English word meaning to expel breath from the lungs.

Mucus

A Latin word for a clear, sticky secretion.

Record

Derived from a Latin word meaning to remember, defined as a written account of a patient's medical history.

Patient

An Old English term meaning to suffer or undergo, referring to a person under medical or surgical care.

Knee

An Old English word meaning an angular shape, referring to the joint between the upper and lower leg.

Apex

A Latin word meaning tip or summit, referring to the downward pointing tip of the cone-shaped heart.

Patent

A Latin word meaning open or exposed, such as a blood vessel open to freely flowing circulation.

Quadrant

A Latin word meaning a quarter, referring to one of the four areas of the abdomen divided by horizontal and vertical planes intersecting at the umbilicus.

Umbilicus

A Latin word for the navel or belly button.

Lymph

A Latin word meaning clear spring water, defined as a clear shimmering fluid collected from body tissues.

Breech

An Old English word meaning buttocks, referring to a presentation in obstetrics where the buttocks are the presenting part at delivery.

Specialist

Derived from a Latin word meaning of a given species, referring to a person who devotes professional attention to a particular subject area.

Ileum

A segment of the small intestine.

Ilium

A bone in the pelvis.

Ureter

The tube leading from the kidney to the bladder.

Urethra

The tube leading from the bladder to the outside.

Trapezius

A muscle located in the back.

Trapezium

A bone located in the wrist.

Neurology

The study of diseases of the nervous system.

Urology

The study of diseases of the kidney and bladder.