Lesson 1: Greek Nouns and Adjectives

Prefixes, Suffixes, Combining Forms, and Suffix Forms from Lesson 1

a-/an-

Not, without, lacking, deficient

anti-/ant

Against, opposed to, preventing, relieving

di-

Two, twice, double

dys-

Difficult, painful, defective, abnormal

ec-/ex-

Out of, away from

ecto-/ect

Outside of

en-/em-

In, into, within

endo-/ento-/end-/ent-

Within

epi-/ep

Upon, over, above

exo-

Outside, from the outside, toward the outside

hemi-

Half, partial, one side of the body

hyper-

Over, above, excessive, beyond normal

hypo-/hyp-

Under, deficient, below normal

mono-

One, single

peri-

Around, surrounding

syn-/sym-

Together, with, joined

-a

State, condition

-ac

Pertaining to, located in

-ia/-y

State, condition

-iac

Person afflicted with

-iasis

Disease, abnormal condition, abnormal presence of: often used with the name of a parasitic organism to indicate infestation of the body by that organism

-ic

Pertaining to, located in; words ending with the suffix can be used as both adjectives and nouns and often indicate a drug or agent; can refer to a person suffering from a certain disability or condition

-in/ine

Forms names of substances

-ist

A person interested/specializing in something

-itic

Pertaining to; pertaining to inflammation; words ending in the suffix can be used as both adjectives and nouns, and often indicate a drug or agent

-itis

Inflammation

-itides

Plural form of for the suffix -itis

-ium

Membrane, connective tissue

-ma

Abnormal or diseased condition; combining form for nouns ending in the suffix is -mat; sometimes the final -a is dropped off the noun

-osis

Abnormal or diseased condition

-otic

Pertaining to

-sia

State, condition

-sis

State, condition

-tic (forms adjectives from nouns ending in -sis)

Pertaining to; words ending in -tic can be used as both adjectives and nouns, or indicate a drug or agent; can refer to a person suffering from a certain disability or condition

Akantha/ACANTH-

Thorn, spine

Algos/ ALG-

Pain

Algēsis/ ALGES-

Sensitivity to pain

Allos/ ALL-

Other, divergence, difference from

Angeion/ ANGI-

(Blood) Vessel, duct

Arteria/ ARTERI-

Artery

Arthron/ ARTHR-

Joint

Bios/ BI-

Life

Bradys/ BRADY-

Slow

Kardia/ CARDI-

Heart

Kephalē/ CEPHAL-

Head

Kranion/ CRANI-

Skull

Kytos/ CYT-

Cell

Enkephalon/ ENCEPHAL-

Brain (a combination of en, [in], and kephalē, [head]

Erythros/ ERYTHR-

Red, red blood cell

Leptos/ LEPT-

Thin, fine, slight

Leukos/ LEUK-

White, white blood cell

Lithos/ LITH-

Stone, calculus

Logos/ LOG-

Word, study

Malakos/ MALAC-

Soft

Mesos/ Mes-

Middle, secondary, partial mesentry

Metron/ -METER, METR-

Measure, measuring device

Nephros/ NEPHR-

Kidney

Neuron/ NEUR-

Nerve, nervous system

Osteon/ OSTE-

Bone

Prosōpon/ PROSOP-

Face

Prōtos/ PROT-

First, primitive, early

Skleros/ SCLER-

Hard

Stenos/ STEN-

Narrow

Stereos/ STERE-

Solid, having 3 dimensions

Tachys/ TACHY-

Rapid

Toxon/ TOX(I)-

Poison

-MALACIA

The softening (of tissues) of

-SCLEROSIS

The hardening (of tissues) of

-STENOSIS

The narrowing (of a part of the body)

-TOXIC

Poisonous (to an organ)

-TOXIN

A substance poisonous to (a part of the body)