Building Medical Terms

Flashcards covering the building blocks of medical terminology including word roots, prefixes, suffixes, combining forms, and practice terms.

Word Root

The main part of a word which contains the basic meaning.

Prefix

Word parts attached to the beginning of a word that modifies the meaning. Indicates size, quantity, position of, and location.

Suffix

Word parts attached to the end of a word that modifies the meaning and carries the underlying meaning of the word.

Combining forms

The word root and a combining vowel that enable two parts to be connected.

Combining Vowel

A word part, usually an O, used between two word roots. It is not used when a suffix begins with a vowel, but is used when a suffix begins with a consonant.

acanth (o)

spiny, thorny

actin (o)

light

aer (o)

air; gas

athero

plaque; fatty substance

bacill (i)

bacilli; bacteria

bar (o)

weight; pressure

blasto

immature cells

carcin(o)

cancer

chrondro

cartilage

cry(o)

cold

crypt(o)

hidden

cyan(o)

blue

cyt(o)

cell

dextr(o)

right

dips(o)

thirst

dors(o)

back

erythr(o)

red

esthesio

sensation, perception

galact(o)

milk

gluco

glucose

gero

old age

glyco

sugars

gyn(o)

women

home(o)

same

kinesi(o)

motion

lact(o)

milk

leuk(o)

white

lith(o)

stone

mio

smaller; less

narco

sleep; numbness

noct(i)

night

oncho

tumor

path(o)

disease

phago

eating

phon(o)

sound; voice

pseud(o)

false

pyro

fever

salping(o)

tube

schiz(o)

split; division

scler(o)

hardening

scolio

crooked; bent

somato

body

tel(o)

distant; end; complete

tropho

food; nutrition

xanth(o)

yellow

xeno

stranger

Xer(o)

dry

a

without

ab

away from

ambi

both, around

ana

up, toward

ante

before

anti

against

aut

self

brachy

short

brady

slow

contra

against

dys

abnormal; difficult

hemi

half

hyper

above normal

hypo

below normal

inter

between

iso

equal; same

mal

bad; inadequate

meta

after

micr(o)

small

olig(o)

few; little; scanty

peri

around; about; near

pro

before; forward

re

again; backward

retro

behind; backward

semi

half

supra

above; over

tachy

fast

un

not

-algia

pain

-asthenia

weakness

-blast

immature; forming

-cidal

destroying; killing

-clast

breaking

-crine

secreting

-crit

separate

-cyte

cell

-cytosis

condition of cells

-derma

skin

-dynia

pain

-ectasis

expanding; dilating

-ectomy

removal of

-emesis

vomiting

-emia

blood

-esthesia

sensation

-globin

protein

-gram

a recording

-graph

recording instrument

-graphy

process of recording