Terms Pertaining to the Body as a Whole

Vocabulary flashcards covering medical combining forms, prefixes, suffixes, cell structures, body planes, directional terms, and spinal column divisions.

abdomin/o

abdomen

adip/o

fat

anter/o

front

cervic/o

neck, cervix

chondr/o

cartilage

chrom/o

color

coccyg/o

coccyx (tail bone)

crani/o

skull

cyt/o

cell

dist/o

far; distant

dors/o

back (of body)

hist/o

tissue

ili/o

ilium

inguin/o

groin

kary/o

nucleus

later/o

side

lumb/o

lower back; loin

medi/o

middle

nucle/o

nucleus

pelv/i

pelvis, hip region

poster/o

back (of body); behind

proxim/o

nearest

sacr/o

sacrum

sarc/o

flesh; connective tissue

spin/o

spine (backbone)

thel/o, theli/o

nipple

thorac/o

chest

trache/o

trachea (windpipe)

umbilic/o

umbilicus (navel)

ventr/o

belly side of body

vertebr/o

vertebra (backbone)

viscer/o

internal organs

ana-

again; anew; up; apart; backward

cata-

down

epi-

above; upon; on

hypo-

under, below, less

inter-

between

meta-

change; beyond

-ectomy

removal, excision; resection

-oma

tumor; mass, fluid collection

-ose

full of, pertaining to, sugar

-plasm

formation, structure

-somes

body

-tomy

process of cutting

-type

classification; picture

Cervical (C)

neck region (C1 to C7)

Thoracic (T)

chest region (T1 to T12)

Lumbar (L)

lower back (loin) region (L1 to L5)

Sacral (S)

region of the sacrum (S1 to S5)

Coccygeal

tailbone region

Frontal (coronal) plane

vertical plane that divides the body into anterior and posterior portions

Transverse plane (axial)

horizontal plane that divides the body into upper and lower portions

Sagittal (lateral) plane

vertical plane that divides the body into right and left portions

Anterior (ventral)

front of the body

Posterior

back of the body

Deep

away from the surface of the body

Superficial

on the surface of the body

Distal

far from the point of attachment to the trunk or far from the beginning of a structure

Proximal

near the point of attachment to the trunk or near the beginning of a structure

Inferior

below another structure

Superior

above another structure

Lateral

pertaining to the side

Medial

pertaining to the middle

Prone

lying on the belly

Supine

lying on the back

Chromosomes

ladder-like structures containing genes (46) and determine DNA

Mitochondria

turns complex energy (sugar/fat) into simpler energy used by body

Nucleus

center of cell; contains DNA

DNA

ladder-like/double helix structures containing genes of chromosomes

Anabolism

using smaller proteins (amino acids) to make proteins

Cell membrane

surrounds and protects cell from external factors

Catabolism

turning complex energy into simpler energy to be used by body

Metabolism

total of chemical processes occurring in a cell

Visceral pleura

membrane surrounding the lungs

Peritoneum

membrane surrounding the abdominal viscera

Diaphragm

muscular wall separating the thoracic and abdominal cavities

Mediastinum

space between the lungs, containing the heart, windpipe, aorta

Intervertebral disc

a pad of cartilage between each backbone and the next

a-, an-

not; without

aut-, auto-

self, own

dia-

complete; through

endo-

in; within

ex-, exo-

out; away from

hyper-

above; excess

peri-

surrounding

pre-

before; forward

retro-

behind; back; backward

sub-

under, below

trans-

across; through

aden/o

gland

arthr/o

joint

bi/o

life

carcin/o

cancerous/cancer

cardi/o

heart

encephal/o

brain

erythr/o

red

gastr/o

stomach

glyc/o

glucose; sugar

gnos/o

knowledge

gynec/o

female