CHAPTER 2 – SUFFIXES
OBJECTIVES
On completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Recognize how suffixes are used when building medical words.
Identify adjective, noun, and diminutive suffixes.
Be aware of suffixes that have more than one meaning.
Recognize suffixes that pertain to pathological conditions.
Identify selected suffixes common to surgical and diagnostic procedures.
Analyze, build, spell, and pronounce medical words.
Complete the Study and Review section.
OUTLINE
I.
Overview of Suffixes
The term suffix means to fasten on, beneath, or under. A suffix may be a syllable
or group of syllables united with or placed at the end of a word to alter or modify
the meaning of the word to create a new word. A suffix is connected to a root or
to a combining form to make a new word. A compound suffix is made up of
more than one word component. It is also added to a root or a combining form to
modify its meaning. Whenever you change the suffix, you alter the meaning of
the word to which it is attached.
The following guidelines pertain to the building and spelling of medical words:
1.
2.
3.
If the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the combining vowel from
the combining form and add the suffix. For example: gastr/o
(stomach) + -oma (tumor) becomes gastroma when we drop the o
from gastro.
If the suffix begins with a consonant, keep the combining vowel
and add the suffix to the combining form. For example: lip/o (fat)
+ -lysis (destruction) becomes lipolysis and we keep the o on the
combining form lipo.
Keep the combining vowel between two or more roots in a term.
For example: electro (electricity) + cardio (heart) + -gram (record)
becomes electrocardiogram and we keep the two combining
vowels.
Helpful Tip: When giving the meaning of the word or reading its definition, you
usually begin with the meaning of the suffix. Examples: gastr/oma is a tumor of
the stomach; lip/o/lysis is the destruction of fat; electr/o/cardi/o/gram is a record
of the electrical activity of the heart.
A.
General Use Suffixes – suffixes, when written, are all preceded by a
hyphen (-) to signify that they are to be linked to the end of a root or
combining form.
1.
Selected Suffixes for General Use
Meaning
Suffix
-algesia
condition of pain
-ant
forming
-ase
enzyme
-ate
use, action
-blast
immature cell, germ cell
-cide
to kill
-crit
to separate
-cuspid
point
-cyst
bladder, sac
-cyte
cell
-dipsia
thirst
-drome
a course
-er
relating to, one who
-gen
formation, produce
-genesis
formation, produce
-ide
having a particular quality
-ive
nature of, quality of
-liter
liter
-logy
study of
-lymph
clear fluid, serum, pale fluid
-or
one who, a doer
-phil
attraction
-stasis
control, stop, stand still
-therapy
treatment
-thermy
heat
-um
tissue, structure
-uria
urination, condition of urine
B.
Grammatical Suffixes – those suffixes that may be attached to a word
root to form a part of speech, especially a noun or adjective, or to make a
medical word singular or plural in its form. They are also used to indicate
a diminutive form of a word that specifies a smaller version of the object
indicated by the word root. They are as follows:
1.
Adjective Suffixes That Mean Pertaining To
Suffix
Definition
-ac
pertaining to
-ad
pertaining to
-al
pertaining to
-ar
pertaining to
-ary
pertaining to
-ic
-ile
-ior
-ose
-ous
-tic
-us
-y
pertaining to
pertaining to
pertaining to
pertaining to
pertaining to
pertaining to
pertaining to
pertaining to
2.
Noun Suffixes That Mean Condition, Treatment, or Specialist
Suffix
Definition
-esis
condition
-ia
condition
-ism
condition
-iatry
treatment
-ician
a physician who specializes in
-ist
a physician who specializes in
-osis
condition
-y
condition
3.
Diminutive Suffixes That Mean Small or Minute
Definition
Suffix
-cle
small
-icle
little
-ole
small
-ula
small
-ule
small
C.
Suffixes That Have More Than One Meaning -– these suffixes have
more than one meaning, thereby making it a little more difficult when defining
medical terms to which they are attached.
1.
Selected Suffixes That Have More Than One Meaning
Suffix
Meaning
-ate
use, action, having the form of, possessing
-blast
immature cell, germ cell, embryonic cell
-ectasis
dilatation, dilation, distention, stretching,
expansion
-gen
formation, produce
-genesis
formation, produce
-genic
formation, produce
-gram
a weight, mark, record
-ive
nature of, quality of
-lymph
serum, clear fluid, pale fluid
-lysis
destruction, separation,
breakdown, loosening, dissolution
-penia
-plasm
-plegia
-ptosis
-rrhea
-scopy
-spasm
-staxis
-trophy
-y
D.
lack of, deficiency, abnormal
reduction
a thing formed, plasma
stroke, paralysis, palsy
prolapse, drooping, falling down,
sagging
flow, discharge
to view, examine, visual
examination
tension, spasm, contraction
dripping, trickling
nourishment, development
process, condition, pertaining to
Suffixes That Pertain to Pathological Conditions – suffixes that carry
meanings such as pain, swelling, weakness, softening, inflammation, and
tumor are often combined with roots or combining forms to describe
pathological conditions.
1.
Selected Suffixes That Pertain to Pathological Conditions
Meaning
Suffix
-algia
pain, ache
-asthenia
weakness
-betes
to go
-cele
hernia, tumor, swelling
-cusis
hearing
-derma
skin
-dynia
pain, ache
-ectasis
dilation, distention
-edema
swelling
-emesis
vomiting
-ion
process
-itis
inflammation
-kinesis
motion
-lepsy
seizure
-lexia
diction, word, phrase
-malacia
softening
-mania
madness
-megaly
enlargement, large
-mnesia
memory
-noia
mind
-oid
resemble
-oma
tumor
-opia
sight, vision
-oxia
oxygen
-pathy
disease, emotion
-penia
deficiency
-pepsia
-phagia
-phasia
-phobia
-plasia
-plasm
-plegia
-pnea
-ptosis
-ptysis
-rrhage
-rrhea
-rrhexis
-spasm
-trophy
E.
to digest
to eat, to swallow
to speak, speech
fear
formation, produce
a thing formed, plasma
paralysis, stroke
breathing
drooping, prolapse, sagging
spitting
bursting forth
flow, discharge
rupture
tension, spasm, contraction
nourishment, development
Suffixes Associated with Surgical and Diagnostic Procedures – suffixes
with meanings such as puncture, surgical excision, instrument to measure,
and new opening are often combined with roots or combining forms to
describe surgical and/or diagnostic procedures.
1.
Selected Suffixes Used in Surgical and Diagnostic Procedures
Meaning
Suffix
-centesis
surgical puncture
-clasis
a breaking
-desis
binding
-ectomy
surgical excision, surgical removal,
resection
-gram
a weight, mark, record
-graph
instrument for recording
-graphy
recording
-ize
to make, to treat or combine with
-lysis
destruction, separation,
breakdown, loosening
-meter
instrument to measure, measure
-metry
measurement
-opsy
to view
-pexy
surgical fixation
-pheresis
remove
-plasty
surgical repair
-rrhaphy
suture
-scope
instrument for examining
-scopy
visual examination, to view,
examine
-stomy
new opening
-tome
instrument to cut
-tomy
incision
-tripsy
crushing
II.
Building Your Medical Vocabulary
A.
Medical Words and Definitions – this section provides the foundation
for learning medical terminology. Medical words can be made up of four
types of word parts:
1.
Prefix (P)
2.
Root (R)
3.
Combining Forms (CF)
4.
Suffixes (S)
By connecting various word parts in an organized sequence, thousands of
words can be built and learned. In the text, the word list is alphabetized so
one can see the variety of meanings created when common prefixes and
suffixes are repeatedly applied to certain word roots and/or combining
forms. Words shown in pink are additional words related to the content of
this chapter that have not been divided into word parts.
III.
Study and Review (pp. 28-29)