Medical Terminology Basics

Des Moines University free medical terminology online course

-itis

inflammation (pancreatitis)

-osis

abnormal condition (cystic fibrosis)

-ectomy

to cut out/remove (e.g. tonsillectomy)

-otomy

to cut into (e.g. lobotomy)

-ostomy

to make a ‘mouth’/permanent opening (e.g. colostomy, ostomy bag)

a/an

without/none (e.g. anemia _{^{(lack of healthy RBCs or hemoglobin)}})

micro-

small

macro-

large

mega or -megaly

enlarged

-scopy or -scopic

to look into (e.g. colonoscopy)

-graphy or -graph

recording an image (w/ X-ray, CT, MRI, or on paper)

-gram

the image (X-ray) (e.g. mammogram)

-ology and -ologist

‘study of’ and ‘person who studies’

stomato🍅

mouth

dento

teeth

glosso/linguo

tongue

gingivo

gums (like gingitivitis)

encephalo

brain (e.g. encephalitis)

gastro

stomach

entero

intestine

colo

colon aka large intestine

procto

@nus/r3ctum

hepato

liver

nephro/rene

kidney (e.g. renal failure)

orchido

testis (singular of ‘testes’)

oophoro

ovary

hystero/metro

uterus (e.g. hysterectomy)

salpingo

uterine tubes

dermo

skin

masto/mammo

breast

osteo

bones (like osteoporosis)

cardio

heart

cysto

bladder

rhino

nose (think rhinoplasty)

phlebo/veno

veins (think phlebotomist)

pneumo/pulmo

lungs (think pneumonia)

hemo/emia

blood (e.g. hematopoiesis, anemia)