Medical Terminology
Lesson 2
Look-Alike, Sound Alike Terms
• Arteri/o
artery
• Ather/o
plaque
or fatty
substance
• Arthr/o
joint
• ileum – part of the small intestine (remember
that the med term for intestines is “enter” and it
has an “e” like ileum.
• ilium is part of the hip bone – you can see the
ilium when you lay on your back..it’s the bones
that are sticking up.
• Infection – an invasion of the body by a
pathogen. It may be local or affect the
entire body
• Inflammation – a localized response to
injury or destruction of tissues. The usual
indications of inflammation are (1)
redness, (2) heat, (3) swelling (edema)
and (4) pain.
• The suffix –itis means inflammation;
however it also is often used to indicate
infection.
• Laceration – a torn, ragged wound
• Lesion – a pathological change of the
tissue due to disease or injury
• Mucous – an adjective that describes the
specialized mucous membranes that line the
body cavities and some organs
•
Trachea mucous membrane
• Mucus is a noun and is the name of the
substance secreted by the mucous membranes.
(you can probably figure out a secretion that
comes out of the nose….that’s mucus)
• Myc/o – fungus. Mycosis
means any disease caused
by a fungus
(osis = abnormal condition
myc= fungus)
• Myel/o – bone marrow
or spinal cord
• My/o - muscle
Athlete’s Foot (Tinea Pedis)
• -ologist – specialist. A gerontologist is a
specialist in treating the elderly.(geront
means old age)
• -ology – the study of. Cardiology is the
study of the heart.
• Palpation – examination technique when
the examiner uses the hands to feel the
size and consistency of certain body parts.
• Palpitation – pounding or racing heart
• Prostate – male gland that surrounds the
urethra
• Prostrate – means to be lying flat or be
overcome with exhaustion
• Pyel/o – renal pelvis
(part of the kidney)
pyelogram
• py/o – pus
•
pyoderma (pus-producing
»
disease of the skin)
• Pyr/o – fever or fire (pyretic means
pertaining to fever)
(pyrosis – abnormal
condition of fire…..also known
as heartburn)
• Supination – rotating the forearm so the
palm faces upward or forward
• Suppuration – formation or discharge of
pus
MRSA
• Triage – the medical screening of patients
to determine the priority of need
• Trauma – wound or injury. These are the
types of injuries that occur in accidents,
shootings, natural disasters, or fire.
• Viral – pertaining to a virus (vir means
virus or poison, al means pertaining to)
»
human immunodeficiency virus
• Virile – possessing masculine
traits
A few more word roots…these indicate color
• Cyan/o – blue
(cyanosis)
• Erythr/o – red
erythrema
• Leuk/o – white
leukocyte
• melan/o – black
melanoma
• Poli/o – gray
Poliomyelitis affects the gray matter of the spinal cord