Dr. Tarek El Sewedy
Department of Medical Laboratory Technology
Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences
LECTURE 2
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lecture, students will learn:
 Basic rules for remembering and forming scientific terms
Lecture content
• Structure of medical words.
• Word Roots
• Suffixes
• Prefixes
• Combining Forms
• Tumour terminology
• Singular and plural scientific terms
Scientific Terminology
• In this course students will have to learn and remember
extensive lists of complex terminology.
•
While each discipline will have terminology that is
particular to it, there are some common principles that
apply to scientific terminology generally.
• The purpose of this course is to is to help students
understand the origins of scientific terms and the way
these terms are formulated in order to remember them
better
Scientific Terminology
• Many of the words used in science have their origins in
Greek and Latin words. If you know the meanings of the
Greek and Latin roots of words, it makes them easier to
remember.
• Similarly, as scientific words are often made up of several
components, knowing these components, and in
particular the ones that are commonly used in your
discipline, will help you remember them or help you to
work out their meaning.
Structure of Medical Terms
•
1.
There are three basic parts to medical terms:
Prefix (comes at the beginning and usually identifies some
subdivision or part of the central meaning) .
2.
Root (usually the middle of the word and gives the main meaning)
3.
Suffix (comes at the end and modifies the central meaning as to
what or who is interacting with it or what is happening to it)
Prefixes
• A prefix is a word segment placed at the beginning of a
word. A prefix helps to change or define the meaning of
the word.
• It is often an adjective or a description and can
contribute its particular meaning to a word
Examples:
• anti
• Hyper
• poly
Prefixes
Roots
• The Root often indicates a place or an organ .
• Most root words are derived from Greek or Latin.
• Examples:
• cardi —
• gastr —
• nephr —
• pseudo
suffixes
• Found at the end of a word.
• It cannot be used alone,
• when added after a root it completes the word. Its function is
to describe or explain the meaning or what is done to the root.
• Examples:
• ectomy —
• itis —
• ology —
suffixes
Term
Prefix
bradycardia
Brady-(slow)
Root
Suffix
Cardia (heart)
Meaning
Slowness of the heart
hepatitis
Hepat
(liver)
Itis
(inflammation)
Inflammation of the
liver
ophthalmitis
Ophthalm
(eye)
Itis
(inflammation)
Inflammation of the
eye
polycystic
Poly
(many)
Cyst
(abnormal sac)
Many-cysts
sublingual
Sub-(under)
Lingua
(longue)
Under the tongue
pharmacology
Pharmakon
(pharmacy
Ology
(study of )
Study of the effects of
drugs
Compound Medical Terms & words
• Are medical terms which is formed of Two or more roots.
• Examples:
• Cardioangiography = heart and blood vessels radiography
• Cardiomyopathy = heart muscle disease
• Postcardiotomy = after heart removal
Tumor Terminology
• Adding -- oma (a swelling) to organ and tissue word
roots names tumors. Not all tumors are malignant
(cancerous). Many are benign (not life-threatening).
Aden/o
= gland
adenoma
Lip/o
= fat
lipoma
My/o
= muscle
myoma
Lymph/o
= lymph tissue
lymphoma
Carcin/o
= malignant
carcinoma
Osteo/o
= bone
osteoma
Common word structures
• In scientific terminology there are often common ways of
forming words. While there are inconsistencies to general
rules.
• knowing these common ways of structuring words can
help you both learn and recall them.
• For example, the following are typical word endings that
indicate singular or plural.
Exercise
• What is this?
• levator labii superioris alaeque nasi.
Assignments
• Students on next slide are requested to prepare a
presentation (minimum of 7 slides) on any the following
topics:
1. Blood terminology (including disease)
2. Kidney terminology (including disease)
3. Liver terminology (including disease)
4. Cancer terminology
Assignments should be delivered by next week
‫)‪Students selected for assignments (Gp A‬‬
‫ابراهيم السيد ابراهيم السيد الطيب‬
‫ابراهيم شحات ابراهيم ابراهيم مصطفى زايد‬
‫ابراهيم عبد العاطى عبد العاطى سيد احمد الساكت‬
‫ابراهيم محمد محمد مصطفى الهابط‬
‫احمد السيد فتحى احمد السيد‬
‫احمد خالد السيد على عيسى‬
‫احمد رضا كامل قطب‬
‫احمد زين العابدين رغيب عبد الهادى‬
‫احمد سامى عابدين عياد‬
‫احمد سعيد شحاته عطوه نوير‬
‫)‪Students selected for assignments (Gp B‬‬
‫فدوى سعد محمد‬
‫فريده ماهر محمد‬
‫فيرونا رومانى فتحى‬
‫كريستينا مجدى جورجى يوسف‬
‫كريم عبد العزيز غازى عبد العزيز‬
‫كمال محمد كمال عبد اللطيف الترعاوى‬
‫كيرلس رفعت فهيم‬
‫مؤمن محمد السيد اسماعيل‬
‫مارك القس ويصا القس متياس كامل‬
‫مارينا ماجد فوزى خيرمتياس‬
Students selected for assignments (Nutrition)
‫هدير كمال أبو بكر‬
‫رنا فتحي الزمراني‬
Study questions
Write the suffix in each of the following words that means “study of,”
“medical specialty,” or “specialist in a field of study”:
1.dentist (one who treats the teeth and mouth)
2. neurology (the study of the nervous system)
3. pediatrics (treatment of children)
4. technologist (specialist in a technical field)
5. psychiatry (study and treatment of mental disorders)
Reference books
1 – Medical Terminology an illustrated Guide by Barbara Jonson
Cohen 2003
2 – “Medical Terminology Simplified” F. A David 2009
3 – “Medical Terminology system : Approach Fifth Edition” Barbara A
Gylys 2004