Medical Terminology Basics

This set contains 60 vocabulary flashcards covering common medical prefixes, root words, and suffixes derived from lecture notes.

a-, an-

Without, not (Example: apnea = without breathing)

ab-

Away from (Example: abduction)

ad-

Toward (Example: adduction)

anti-

Against (Example: antibiotic)

brady-

Slow (Example: bradycardia)

dys-

Bad, painful, difficult (Example: dysuria)

endo-

Within (Example: endoscopy)

epi-

Upon, above (Example: epidermis)

hyper-

Excessive, above normal (Example: hypertension)

hypo-

Below normal, deficient (Example: hypoglycemia)

inter-

Between (Example: intercostal)

intra-

Within (Example: intravenous)

peri-

Around (Example: pericardium)

poly-

Many, much (Example: polyuria)

pre-

Before (Example: prenatal)

post-

After (Example: postoperative)

sub-

Under, below (Example: subcutaneous)

tachy-

Fast (Example: tachycardia)

trans-

Across, through (Example: transdermal)

cardi/o

Heart

cephal/o

Head

derm/o

Skin

dermat/o

Skin

encephal/o

Brain

enter/o

Intestine

gastr/o

Stomach

hemat/o

Blood

hem/o

Blood

hepat/o

Liver

my/o

Muscle

nephr/o

Kidney

neur/o

Nerve

onc/o

Tumor

ophthal/o

Eye

oste/o

Bone

ot/o

Ear

path/o

Disease

pulmon/o

Lung

pneum/o

Lung

ren/o

Kidney

thorac/o

Chest

ur/o

Urine, urinary tract

-algia

Pain

-cyte

Cell

-ectomy

Surgical removal

-emia

Blood condition

-gram

Record or picture

-graphy

Process of recording

-itis

Inflammation

-logy

Study of

-lysis

Breakdown, destruction

-megaly

Enlargement

-oma

Tumor, mass

-osis

Abnormal condition

-pathy

Disease

-penia

Deficiency

-plasty

Surgical repair

-rrhage

Bursting forth, excessive bleeding

-rrhea

Flow, discharge

-scope

Instrument for viewing