Important Terminology

melan/o

Black

cyan/o

Blue

glauc/o

Gray, Silver

poli/o

Gray

chlor/o

Green

purpur/o

Purple

erythr/o

Red

eosin/o

Reddish

albalbin/o

White

leuk/o

White

cirrh/o

Yellow

jaund/o

Yellow

xanth/o

Yellow

bi-

Two

hemi-

Half

mono-

One

multi-

Many

nulli-

None

poly-

Many

quad-

Four

semi-

Partial-, half

tri-

Three

uni-

One

post-

After

re-

Again

retro-

Back/backward

pro-, pre-, ante-

Before

tachy-

Fast

neo-

New

chron-

Time, long time

brady-

Slow

-genic

Producing

-ia

State, condition

-iasis

Abnormal condition

-logy

Study of

-ism

State of

-itis

Inflammation

-logist

One who studies

-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

-Centesis

Puncture to withdraw fluid

-ectomy

Surgical Removal

-ostomy

Surgically create an opening

-otomy

Cutting into

-pexy

Surgical fixation

-plasty

Surgical repair

-rrhaphy

Suture

-gram

Record or picture

-graph

Instrument for recording

-graphy

Process of recording

-meter

Instrument for measuring

-metry

Process of measuring

-scope

Instrument for viewing

-scopy

Process of visually examining

Hx

History

Bx

Biopsy

Dx

Diagnosis

Rx

Prescription

Sx

Symptoms

Tx

Treatment

Fx

Fracture

hyper-

Above normal

hypo-

Below normal

eu-

Normal/good

ab-

Away from

supra-

Above

peri-

Around

trans-

Across

inter-

Between

ex-, ec(t)-

Out of, outside

auto-

Self

dia-

Through, completely

con-

Together

ad-

Toward

end(o)-

Within, inside

anti-, contra-

Against

mal-

Bad

eti-

Cause

a-, de-

Without

dys-

Not working correctly