Medical Terminology
Lecture 1
First stage
6/12/ 2023
Prof.Dr. Uday Al-Rikaby
College of Pharmacy-University of Al-Ameed
Introduction
Medical terminology: is a language that is used in the medical and nursing fields
to accurately describe the human body and associated components,
conditions, processes in a science-based manner.
Basic Elements of a Medical Word
(Word Elements)
There are four types of word elements that make up
medical terms include:
1. Roots
2. Prefixes
3. Suffixes
4. Combining form
Medical terms contain one or more of these elements.
1-Word Roots
It is the base element from which other related terms may be formed.
Reveals the central meaning of the word.
Usually describe a body part.
May be used alone or combined with another root, with prefixes and with
suffixes in various combinations to form a medical term.
Examples:
Periarthritis
Common Roots in Medical Terms
Root Refers to
Bronch/o Bronchus
Derm/o, dermat/o Skin
Hem/o, hemat/o Blood
Hep/o, hepat/o Liver
Psych/o Mind
Path/o Disease
Cardi/o Heart
Gastr/o Stomach
Neur/o Nerve cell, the nervous system
Oste/o Bone
2-Prefixes
Prefix: is a word element that comes at the beginning of the word .
Mainly used to modify the word root by giving additional information about the
location of an organ, the number of parts, time, direction or frequency .
Prefixes can be added to word roots and/or word roots with a suffix .
Examples:
Hypergastric means above the stomach
Periarthritis means inflammation around the joint
Tachycardia means a rapid heart rate
Prenatal means before birth.
Categories of Prefixes:
There are four functional categories of prefixes:
1. • Prefixes of time or speed.
2. • Prefixes of direction.
3. • Prefixes of position.
4. • Prefixes of size or number.
Categories of Prefixes:
Prefixes Refer to Example Categories of Prefixes
Tachy- Rapid Tachycardia Prefixes of Speed
Brady- slow Bradycardia Prefixes of Speed
Pre Before Premature Prefixes of Time
Post After Postpartum Prefixes of Time
Ab Outside, Away from Abnormal Prefixes of Direction
Anti-, Contra- Against Contraindicate Prefixes of Direction
Hyper- Above, or excessive Hypertension Prefixes of Position
Hypo- Below, below normal Hypoglycemia Prefixes of Position
Inter- Between Intercostal Prefixes of Position
Intra-, endo-, en- Inside, Within Intracerebral, Encephalopathy Prefixes of Position
Ecto- , Exo- Outside Ectopy Prefixes of Position
Macro- Big Macrocyte Prefixes of Size
Micro- Small Microscope Prefixes of Size
Mono- One Monocyte Prefixes of Number
Olig-, Oligo- A few Oliguria Prefixes of Number
3- Suffixes
Always come at the end of a root to add meaning.
It may modify the root to indicate a condition, diagnostic test, procedure, or
specialty.
Examples: -ectomy (removal of), -logy (study of), -itis (inflammation of)
Arthritis means inflammation of the joint.
Note: Not all medical terms have suffixes but may have prefixes only
(e.g. bradycardia) and vice versa not all medical terms have prefixes
but may have suffixes(e.g. gastritis), but some of the medical terms
have prefixes and suffixes together (e.g. periarthritis).
Categories of Suffixes:
Suffixes Refer to Example Categories of Suffixes
-megaly Enlargement Cardiomegaly Suffix of Medical Condition
-oma Tumor Gastroma Suffix of Medical Condition
-itis Inflammation Tonsillitis Suffix of Medical Condition
-rrhage Flowing forth Hemorrhage Suffix of Medical Condition
-ectomy Surgical removal Appendectomy Suffix of Surgical Procedure
-plasty Surgical repair Rhinoplasty Suffix of Surgical Procedure
-scopy Act of viewing Arthroscopy Suffix of diagnosis
-ian Specialist Pediatrician Suffix of specialist
-ist Specialist in the field of study Orthopedist Suffix of specialist
-ac, -al, -ar, -iac, -ic. Pertaining to Pediatric Suffixes that denote Adjectives
4-Combining Form
Consists of the word root plus one or more vowels.
The vowel is called the combining vowel that is required to facilitate
pronunciation.
The combining vowel is usually an “o”, but others “e or i” may be used
It is used between two word roots( e.g. gastroenteritis) , or between a root
and a suffix when the suffix begins with a consonant(e.g. arteriostenosis).
Some medical term contain both vowel o and i (e.g. card i /o logy).
Analyzing Medical Terms
To analyze the medical term should follow the following steps:
1) Separate the term into its word parts: identify root(s), suffix, and prefix.
2) Attach the meaning to each of the word elements.
3) Translate by starting at the end of the word with the suffix and moving to the prefix,
if any, and then finally to the root.
Analyzing Medical Terms
Analyzing Medical Terms
Thank You
