Lesson 2: Mastering Medical Vocabulary

cardi refers to

heart

gastr refers to

stomach

-gram meaning

record

nephr refers to

kidneys

dermat is

skin

-itis is

inflammation

Suffixes like -osis, -iasis, -ism, and -ia signal that

something is wrong

hypothyroidism refers to

an underachieve thyroid gland

psoriasis involves

abnormal skin cell buildup

fibro

fibrous tissue

“my”

musle

“algia”

pain

-algia or -dynia

pain

-necrosis

tissue death

megaly

enlargement

-ectomy

removal

-scopy

visual exam

-stomy

creating an opening

-centesis

fluid removal

pre-

before

post-

after

inter-

between

intra-

within

retro-

behind

hyper-

excessive

hypo-

deficient

poly-

many

oligo-

few

pan-

all

ab-

away from

ad-

toward

trans-

across

cyan/o

blue

erythr/o

red

leuk/o

white

melan/o

black

Electr/o/cardi/o/gram

record of the electrical activity of the heart

Gastr/o/enter/itis

inflammation of the stomach and intestines

ischemic

lack of blood flow

cardiomyopathy

heart muscle disease

atrial fibrillation

irregular upper chamber rhythm

-algia

pain and suffering

cephalgia

pain in head

-dynia

pain

coccydynia

pain in the tailbone

-malacia

abnormal softening

chondromalacia

abnormal softening of the cartilage

-megaly

enlargement

-orrhagia

burst forth, hemorrhage

menorrhagia

excessive or heavy menses

-orrhea

discharge, flowing

dysmenorrhea

bad or painful menses with heavy flow

sclerosis

abnormal hardening

arteriosclerosis

hardening of the arterial walls

-stenosis

abnormal narrowing

-centesis

surgically puncture to remove excess fluid

-ectomy

surgically remove

-graphy

process of recording

-gram

means picture or record

-lysis

means to loosen, free, or destroy

hemolysis

is the break down of red blood cells and the release of hemoglobin that naturally occurs at the end of the life span

-orrhaphy

repair, close, suture

plasty

means to repair surgically

sub

under or below

dys

bad, painful or difficult

eu

good, normal or easy

Supra-

excess or above

Prefixes

Beginning of words to modify the meaning of the word root, indicating position, number, time, or color.

Suffixes

Added to the end of words to further define or refine the meaning, often indicating a condition, procedure, or part of speech.

Combining vowels, usually 'o', are used to

ensure smooth pronunciation of terms.

Encephal-

brain

Hepat-

liver

Root

The base or core of a word, often indicating body part or system

neo-

new

a-

absence of

Which suffix would convert a root word into a noun?

-us

-centisis

procedure to remove fluid from a body cavity

-stomy

surgical opening or connection in medical terminology