Med-Terms

Prefixes (green), Suffixes (blue), Verbs (purple), and Suffix forms (red)

Connecting Vowels

Usually o and sometimes u, or i are used to join roots and suffixes that end and start with consonants in medical terminology.

a- (an- before a vowel or h)

"without, lacking, deficient, not"

anti- (ant- often before a vowel or h ; hyphenated before i)

"against, opposite of, opposed to, preventing, relieving"

di- (rarely dis-)

“two, double, twice”

dys-

“difficult, painful, defective, abnormal”

ec- (ex- before a vowel)

“out of, away from”

ecto- (ect- often before a vowel)

“outside of”

en- (em- before b, m, and p)

“in, into, within”

endo-, ento- (end-, ent- before a vowel)

“within”

epi- (ep- before a vowel or h)

“upon, over, above”

exo-

“outside, from the outside, toward the outside”

hemi-

“half, partial, (often) one side of the body”

hyper-

“over above, excessive, beyond normal”

hypo- (hyp- before a vowel or h)

“under, deficient, below normal”

mono- (mon- before a vowel or h)

“one, single”

peri-

“around, surrounding”

syn- (sym- before b, p, and m; n is dropped before s)

“together, with, joined”

amphi-, ampho-

“on both sides, around, both”

ana-

“up, back, against”

apo-

“away from”

cata- (cat- before a vowel or h)

“downward, disorde”

dia- (di- before a vowel)

“through, across, apart”

eso-

“within, inner, inward”

eu-

“good, normal, healthy”

heter-, hetero-

“different, other, relationship to another”

homo-, homero-

“same, likeness”

meta- (met- before a vowel or h)

“change, transformation, after, behind”

para- (often par- before a vowel)

“ngalside, around, abnorma, beyond”

pro-

“before”

pros-, prosth-

“in place of”

ab- (a- rarely before certain consonants; abs- before c and t) Latin

away from

ad- (ac- before c; af- before f; ag- before g; al- before l; an- before n; ap- before p; as- before s; a- before sp; at- before t) Latin

to, toward

ambi- Latin

both

ante- Latin

before, forward

bi- (bin-, bis-) Latin

two, twice, double, both

circum- Latin

around

con- (co- before h; col- before l; com- before e, m, and p; cor- before r) Latin

together, with; thoroughly, very

contra- Latin

against, opposite

de- Latin

down, away from, absent

dis- (di- before g, v, and usually before l; dif- before f) Latin

apart, away

ex- (e- before certain consonants; ef- before f) Latin

out of, away from

extra- (rarely extro-) Latin

on the outside, beyond

(1) in- (il- before l; im- before b, m, and p; ir- before r) Latin

in, into

(2) in- Latin

not

(3) in- Latin

very, thoroughly

infra- Latin

beneath, below

inter- Latin

between

intra- (rarely intro-) Latin

within

mult- (often multi-) Latin

many, much, affecting many parts

non- Latin

not

ob- (oc- before c; op- before p) Latin

against, toward; very, thoroughly

per- (pel- before l) Latin

through; very, thoroughly

post- Latin

after, following, behind

pre- Latin

before, in front of

pro- Latin

forward, in front

re- Latin

back, again

retro- Latin

backward, in back, behind

se- Latin

apart, away from

semi- Latin

half

sub- (suf- before f; sup- before p) Latin

under

super- (often supra-) Latin

over, above; excess

trans- Latin

across, through

ultra- Latin

beyond, excess

-a (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“state, condition”

-ac (rare, adjective-forming suffix)

“pertaining to, located in”

-ia (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“state, condition”

-iac (rare, noun-forming suffix)

“person afflicted with”

-iasis (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“disease, abnormal condition, abnormal presence of” often used with naming parasitic organism within the body

-ic (adjective-forming suffix)

“pertaining to, located in” used in both adjective and nouns, nouns often indicate a drug or agent, refer to someone suffering from a disability or condition

-in, -ine (noun-forming suffix)

‘form names of substances”

-ist (noun-forming suffix)

“a person interested in”

-itic (adjective-forming suffix)

“pertaining to; pertaining to inflammation” used in both adjective and nouns, nouns often indicate a drug or agent

-itis (noun-forming suffix)

“indicating and inflamed condition; inflammation”

-itides

plural form of nouns ending in -itis

-ium (rarely -eum; noun-forming suffix)

“membrane, connective tissue” sometimes names a region of the body

-ma (noun-forming suffix)

“(often) abnormal or diseased condition” the combining form -ma is -mat, sometimes the final -a drops off the noun

-osis (noun-forming suffix)

“abnormal or diseased condition”

-otic (adjective-forming suffix)

“pertaining to” from nouns ending in -osis

-sia (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“state, condition” sometimes the suffix -iac or -ic is affixed to the suffix -sia or -sis, leaving -s left

-sis (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“state, condition, quality, process, procedure) sometimes the suffix -iac or -ic is affixed to the suffix -sia or -sis, leaving -s left

-tic (adjective-forming suffix)

“petaining to” from nouns ending in -sis, used in both adjective and nouns, nouns often indicate a drug or agent

-y (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“state , condition, quality, process, procedure”

-al (adjective-forming siffix; from Latin)

“pertaining to, located in”

-ase (noun-forming suffix)

“forms names of enzymes”

-asia, -asis(rare) (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“state, condition”

-ema (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“state, condition” the combining form in -ema is -emat

-esis (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“sate, condition, procedure”

-etic (adjective-forming suffix)

“pertaining” often for nouns ending in -esis

-ics (noun-forming suffix)

“science or study of” indicating a particular science or study

-ism (noun-forming suffix)

“state, condition, quality”

-ismus (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“state, condition; muscular spasm”

-oid, (rarely) -ode, -id (both noun-and adjective-forming suffix)(

"like, resembling” indicating a particular shape, form, or resemblance

-oma (abstract noun-forming suffix)

“usually tumor; occasionally disease” the combining form of -oma is -omat,, plural is often -omata

-ose (adjective-forming suffix; from Latin)

“full of, resembling” an noun-forming suffix used to form names of chemical substances

-ous (adjective-forming suffix; from Latin)

“pertaining to, characterized by, full of”

-tics (noun-forming suffix)

“science or study of” indicating a particular science or study

-us (Latin noun-forming ending)

condition, person, (sometimes a malformed fetus)

-al (adjective-forming suffix) Latin

pertaining to

-an (adjective-forming suffix) Latin

pertaining to, located in

-ar (adjective-forming suffix) Latin

pertaining to, located in