Medical Terminology

Common Medical Word Roots, Suffixes, and Prefixes

albin/o

white

bi/o

life

cry/o

cold

cutane/o

skin

cyan/o

blue

derm/o

dermat/o

skin

diaphor/o

profuse sweating

electr/o

electricity

icnthy/o

scaly

kerat/o

hard

lip/o

fat

melan/o

black

myc/o

fungus

necr/o

death

pil/o

hair

py/o

pus

rhytid/o

wrinkle

seb/o

oil

ungu/o

nail

xer/o

dry

-algia

pain

-cele

hernia, protrusion

-cise

cut

-cyte

cell

-dynia

pain

-ectasis

dilation

-gen

that which produces

-genesis

produces, generates

-genic

produces, produced by

-ia

state, condition

-iasis

abnormal condition

-ism

state of

-itis

inflammation

-logist

one who studies

-logy

study of

-lysis

destruction

-malacia

abnormal softening

-megaly

enlargement, large

-oma

tumor, mass

-osis

abnormal condition

-pathy

disease

-plasia

development, growth

-plasm

formation, development

-ptosis

drooping

-rrhage

excessive, abnormal flow

-rrhea

discharge, flow

-rrhexis

rupture

-sclerosis

hardening

-stenosis

narrowing

-therapy

treatment

-trophy

nourishment, development

a-

without, away from

an-

without

ante-

before, in front of

anti-

against

auto-

self

brady-

slow

dys-

painful, difficult

endo-

within, inner

epi-

upon, over

eu-

normal, good

hetero-

different

homo-

same

hyper-

over, above

hypo-

under, below

infra-

under, beneath, below

inter-

among, between

intra-

within, inside

macro-

large

micro-

small

neo-

new

pan-

all

para-

beside, beyond, near

per-

through

peri-

around

post-

after

pre-

before, in front of

pseudo-

false

retero-

backward, behind

sub-

below, under

super-

above, excess

supra-

above

tachy-

rapid, fast

trans-

through, across

ultra-

beyond, excess