Medical Terminology Basics

A comprehensive collection of vocabulary flashcards covering medical combining forms, prefixes, suffixes, symbols, and abbreviations from the provided lecture notes.

alveol/o

alveolus; air sac

arthr/o

joint

aur/o

ear

bi/o

life

cardi/o

heart

caud/o

tail

cephal/o

head

cervic/o

neck; cervix (neck of uterus)

col/o, colon/o

large intestine; colon

cost/o

rib

cutane/o

skin

enter/o

intestines (usually the small intestine)

gastr/o

stomach

glyc/o

sugar; glucose

hem/o

blood

hepat/o

liver

lip/o

fat

log/o

study

my/o

muscle

nas/o

nose

nephr/o

kidney

neur/o

nerve

or/o

mouth

oste/o

bone

path/o

disease

pulmon/o

lung

rhin/o

nose

sarc/o

flesh; connective tissue

thorac/o

chest

uter/o

uterus

a-, an-

not; without

ante-

before

anti-

against

bi-

two; both

brady-

slow

endo-

in; within

epi-

on; over; upon

hyper-

above; above normal; excessive

hypo-

below; below normal; deficient

inter-

between

intra-

within; into

peri-

around; surrounding

sub-

below; under

supra-

above

tachy-

fast

trans-

across

ultra-

beyond; excess

-ac, -al, -ar, -ary, -iac, -ial, -ic, -ical, -ior

pertaining to

-algia

pain

-cyte

cell

-ectomy

surgical removal; excision

-emia

blood condition

-gen

substance that produces

-ia

condition

-ine

a substance (noun) pertaining to (adjective)

-itis

inflammation

-logist

specialist (one who studies)

-logy

study of

-megaly

enlargement

-oma

tumor; mass

-osis

process; abnormal condition

-pathy

disease

-plasty

surgical repair

-stomy

surgical opening

-tomy

process of cutting; incision

-um

structure; tissue; thing

AAF

African-American female

abd

abdomen; abdominal

ABX

antibiotic

ad lib

as desired

AM, am

morning; before noon

b.i.d.

twice a day

c

with

c/o

complains of; complaining of

CBC

complete blood (cell) count

consult

consultation

CT

computerized tomography; computed tomography

CXR

chest X-ray

DOB

date of birth

ECG, EKG

electrocardiogram

ER

emergency room

H2O

water

hs

half strength; bedtime

ht

height

IV

intravenous

lb, #

pound

min

minute(s)

NKDA

no known drug allergies

NPO

nothing by mouth (from the Latin nil per os)

OB/GYN

obstetrician/gynecologist

OR

operating room

OTC

over-the-counter

OV

office visit

oz

ounce

p

after

PM, pm

after noon

postop

after surgery; postoperative

pre-op

before surgery; preoperative

Pro. Time

prothrombin time (blood-clotting test)

Pt, pt.

patient