The Language of Medicine, 12th Ed. by Davi-Ellen Chabner - Chapter 4

carp/o

wrist bones.

cis/o

cut.

cost/o

rib.

cutane/o

skin.

dactyl/o

fingers, toes.

duct/o

lead, carry.

flex/o

bend.

furc/o

branching.

gloss/o

tongue.

glyc/o

sugar.

immun/o

protection.

morph/o

shape, form.

mort/o

death.

nat/i

birth.

norm/o

rule, order.

ox/o

oxygen.

pub/o

pubis (pubic bone); anterior portion of the pelvic or hipbone.

seps/o

infection.

somn/o

sleep.

son/o

sound.

tens/o

force, strain, stretch.

the/o

put, place.

thel/o, theli/o

nipple

thyr/o

thyroid gland; shield (the shape of the thyroid gland resembled [-oid] a shield to those who named it)

top/o

place, position, location.

tox/o

poison.

trache/o

windpipe, trachea.

urethr/o

urethra

-crine

secrete

-drome

run.

-fusion

coming together; to pour.

-gen

substance that produces.

-lapse

slide, fall, sag.

-lysis

breakdown, destruction, separation.

-meter

measure.

-mission

send.

-or

one who.

-oxia

oxygen.

-partum

birth, labor.

-phoria

bear, carry; feeling (mental state).

-physis

grow.

-plasia

development, formation, growth.

-plasm

structure or formation.

-pnea

breathing.

-ptom

happening, occurrence.

-ptosis

falling, drooping, prolapse.

-rrhea

flow, discharge.

-stasis

stopping, controlling.

-trophy

development, nourishment.

a-, an-

no, not, without. apnea, anoxia

ab-

away from.

abnormal,

abductor - A muscle that draws a limb away from the body. HINT: Notice that in abductor, the b faces away from the a.

ad-

toward.

adductor - A muscle that draws a limb toward the body. HINT: Notice that in adductor, the d faces toward the a.,

adrenal glands - These glands actually lie on top of each kidney.

ana-

up, apart.

anabolism,

analysis,

Urinalysis (urin/o + [an]/alysis) is a laboratory examination of urine that aids in the diagnosis of many medical conditions. In this term, -lysis means separation.

ante-

before, forward.

ante cibum - The word cibum means meals. The notation a.c., seen on prescription orders, means before meals. You can guess that p.c. means after (post) meals., anteflexion, antepartum

anti-

against.

antibiotic - Antibiotics destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria. Penicillin was the first antibiotic discovered and was in widespread use by the1940s. Many penicillin-like antibiotics have been discovered since then and have shown valuable activity against penicillin-resistant organisms.,

antibody - Protein produced against an antigen (foreign body)., antigen - In this term, anti- is short for antibody. An antigen(bacterium or virus) is a substance that stimulates the production of (-gen) an antibody.,

antisepsis - An antiseptic (-sis changes to -tic to form an adjective) substance fights infection. Septicemia is a serious bacterial infection of the blood.,

antitoxin - This is an antibody, often from an animal (such as a horse), that acts against a toxin. An example is tetanus antitoxin given against tetanus, an acute bacterial infection of the nervous system.

auto-

self, own.

autoimmune disease

bi-

two.

bifurcation - Normal splitting into two branches, such as bifurcation of the trachea to form the bronchi. The root furc means branching.,

bilateral

brady-

slow.

bradycardia - Usually, a pulse of less than 60; a slow heart rate. Tachycardia (tachy- means fast) is a pulse of more than 100 beats per minute.

cata-

down.

catabolism

con-

with, together.

Congenital anomaly,

Connective - (The root nect means to tie or bind.) - Connective tissue supports and binds other body tissue and parts. Bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissue are connective tissues.

contra-

against, opposite.

contraindication (Contra- means against in this term.), contralateral (Contra- means opposite in this term.) - A stroke affecting the right side of the brain may cause contralateral paralysis affecting the left arm and leg.

de-

down, lack of.

dehydration

dia-

through, complete.

diameter,

diarrhea,

dialysis - Literal meaning is complete (dia-) separation (-lysis). In hemodialysis, waste materials are separated from the blood via a machine (artificial kidney) when the kidneys no longer function. Another form of dialysis is peritoneal dialysis.

dys-

abnormal, bad, difficult, painful.

dyspnea - Often caused by respiratory or cardiac conditions, strenuous exercise, or anxiety.,

dysentery,

dystrophy - Muscular dystrophy includes many inherited diseases that cause muscular weakness and deterioration., dysplasia

ec-

out, ouside.

ectopic pregnancy - Ectopic means pertaining to out of place and modifies the noun "pregnancy."

endo-

in, within.

endocardium,

endoscope,

endotracheal - An endotracheal tube, placed through the mouth into the trachea, is used for giving oxygen and in general anesthesia procedures.

epi-

upon, on, above.

epithelium

eu-

good, normal.

euphoria - Feeling of well-being.,

euthyroid - Normal thyroid function.

ex-

out, outside.

exophthalmos - Protrusion of the eyeball (associated with enlargement and overactivity of the thyroid gland.)

hemi-

half.

hemiglossectomy

hyper-

excessive, above.

hyperglycemia - This is a sign of diabetes mellitus. Lack of insulin (type 1 diabetes) or ineffective insulin (type 2 diabetes) causes high levels of sugar in the blood.,

hyperplasia - Increase in cell numbers. This is a characteristic of tumor growth.,

hypertrophy - Increase in size of individual cells. Muscle, cardiac, andrenal cells exhibit hypertrophy when workload is increased. The opposite of hypertrophy is atrophy (cells shrink in size).,

hypertension - High blood pressure occurs when the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries is consistently too high.

hypo-

deficient, under.

hypodermic injection,

hypoglycemia

in-

not, into, within.

insomniac.

incision

infra-

beneath, under.

infracostal

inter-

between.

intercostal - Intercostal muscles lie between adjacent ribs.

intra-

in, within, into.

intravenous

macro-

large.

macrocephaly - This is a congenital anomaly. Often macrocephaly is associated with excess fluid in the brain (hydrocephalus).

mal-

bad.

malaise (mal-AYZ) - This is a French word meaning discomfort. It is a symptom of illness often marking the onset of a disease., malignant - From the Latin ignis, meaning fire. Benign (ben- = good) is noncancerous, whereas malignant means cancerous.

meta-

beyond, change.

metacarpal bones - The five hand bones lie beyond the wrist bones but before the finger bones (phalanges).,

metamorphosis (Meta- means change in this term.) - The change in development from the larval (caterpillar) stage to the adult (butterfly) is a form of metamorphosis. Embryonic (immature) stem cells spontaneously change (undergo metamorphosis) to form different types of mature cells.,

metastasis - Meta- = beyond and -stasis = controlling, stopping.,

Ametastasis is a malignant tumor that has spread to a secondary location.

micro-

small.

microscope,

microcephaly - is associated with a smaller, underdeveloped brain. Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause microcephaly

neo-

new.

neonatal - The neonatal period is the interval from birth to 28 days.,

neoplasm - A neoplasm may be benign or malignant.

pan-

all.

pancytopenia - Deficiency of erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes.

para-

abnormal, beside, near.

paralysis - Abnormal disruption of the connection between nerve and muscle. Originally from the Greek paralusis, meaning separation or loosening on one side, describing the loss of movement on one side of the body (occurring in stroke patients).,

parathyroid glands (Para- means beside.) - The four parathyroid glands are located behind the thyroid gland. They secrete a hormone that regulates the calcium levels in blood and tissues.

per-

through.

percutaneous

peri-

surrounding.

pericardium

poly-

many, much.

polymorphonuclear,

polyneuritis

post-

after, behind.

postmortem,

postpartum

pre-

before, in front of.

precancerous,

prenatal

pro-

before, forward.

prodrome - Prodromal signs and symptoms (rash, fever) appear before the actual illness (such as chickenpox) and signal its onset. Altered mood, fatigue, flashes of light, or stiff muscles may accompany the prodromal migraine aura that occurs before the actual headache.,

prolapse (The suffix -lapse means to slide, sag, or fall.) - A prolapse of the eyelid is commonly called ptosis (blepharoptosis).

pros-

before, forward.

prosthesis - An artificial limb is a prosthesis.

re-

back, again.

relapse - A disease or its signs and symptoms return after an apparent recovery.,

remission - Signs and symptoms lessen and the patient feels better. Remission may be spontaneous or the result of treatment. In some cases, a permanent remission means the disease is cured., recombinant DNA - Genetic engineering uses recombinant DNA techniques.

retro-

behind, backward.

retroperitoneal,

retroflexion - An abnormal position of an organ, such as the uterus, bent or tilted backward.

sub-

under.

subcutaneous

supra-

above, upper.

suprapubic - The pubic bones form the anterior part of the hip bone. A suprapubic catheter is useful in draining the bladder above the pubic bone.

syn-, sym-

together, with.

syndactyly - a hereditary, congenital anomaly of fingers or toes.,

synthesis - In protein synthesis, complex proteins are built up from simpler amino acids.,

syndrome - a group of signs or symptoms that appear together to produce a typical clinical picture of a disease or inherited abnormality.,

symbiosis - occurs when two organisms live together in close association, either for mutual benefit or not. (HINT: Before the letters b, m, and p, syn- becomes sym-. ),

Symptom - a subjective change in condition as perceived by the patient. (Be careful about spelling! Don't forget the p in symptom.),

symmetry - Equality of parts on opposite sides of the body. What is asymmetry?,

symphysis - A symphysis is a joint in which the bony surfaces are firmly united by a layer of fibrocartilage.

tachy-

fast.

tachypnea

trans-

across, through.

transfusion - Transfer of blood or blood parts from one person to another.,

transurethral

ultra-

beyond, excess.

ultrasonography - diagnostic technique using ultrasound waves (inaudible sound waves) to produce an image of an organ or tissue. Echocardiograms are ultrasound images of the heart.

uni-

one.

unilateral