Medical Terminology Starter Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards designed to help students master basic medical terminology, including prefixes, suffixes, combining forms, word structure rules, and core medical terms.

Prefix

Comes before the root; changes meaning.

Root / combining form

Main meaning of the term.

Suffix

Usually comes at the end; often describes a condition, procedure, or disease.

Combining vowel

Usually an 'o'; connects word parts.

The Golden Rule

Read From the Suffix Backward.

a-, an-

Without, not

brady-

Slow

tachy-

Fast

hyper-

Excessive, above normal

hypo-

Below normal, deficient

peri-

Around

endo-

Within, inner

epi-

Upon, above

sub-

Under, below

inter-

Between

intra-

Within

poly-

Many, much

oligo-

Few, scanty

uni-

One

bi-

Two

tri-

Three

-itis

Inflammation

-algia

Pain

-ectomy

Surgical removal

-otomy

Cutting into, incision

-ostomy

Surgically created opening

-plasty

Surgical repair

-scopy

Visual examination

-scope

Instrument for visual examination

-megaly

Enlargement

-emia

Blood condition

-uria

Urine condition

-pathy

Disease

-osis

Abnormal condition

-logy

Study of

-ologist

Specialist in a field

-rrhea

Flow or discharge

-rrhage / -rrhagia

Bursting forth, excessive bleeding

-penia

Deficiency

-pnea

Breathing

cardi/o

Heart

angi/o, vas/o

Vessel

hemat/o, hem/o

Blood

neur/o

Nerve

encephal/o

Brain

oste/o

Bone

arthr/o

Joint

my/o

Muscle

dermat/o, derm/o

Skin

gastr/o

Stomach

enter/o

Intestine

hepat/o

Liver

nephr/o, ren/o

Kidney

cyst/o

Bladder or sac

pneum/o, pulmon/o

Lung, air

rhin/o

Nose

ot/o

Ear

ophthalm/o

Eye

odont/o

Tooth

gynec/o

Woman, female

andr/o

Man, male

uter/o, metr/o

Uterus

hyster/o

Uterus

thyroid/o

Thyroid gland

Bradycardia

Slow heart rate (brady- + cardi/o + -ia)

Tachycardia

Fast heart rate (tachy- + cardi/o + -ia)

Gastritis

Inflammation of the stomach (gastr/o + -itis)

Nephrectomy

Surgical removal of a kidney (nephr/o + -ectomy)

Dermatology

Study of the skin (dermat/o + -logy)

Cardiomegaly

Enlargement of the heart (cardi/o + -megaly)

Neuropathy

Disease/disorder of a nerve or nerves (neur/o + -pathy)

Hematuria

Blood in the urine (hemat/o + -uria)