Tools For Building Medical Terms
All medical terms can be broken down into
word parts
The three word parts that you will be concerned
with are the
Prefix
Stem/Root word
Suffix
Usually only two of these parts are present in a
medical term
Most Medical term word roots are of greek
or latin origin
Two different word roots can have the
same meaning
Nephr (Gr) and Ren (L) both mean kidney
Derma (Gr) and Cutis(L) both mean Skin
Words which name and describe the
structures of the body
Muscles and Bones
Gluteus Maximus, Trapezius
Humerus, Fovea Capitus
Words naming and describing diseases,
conditions, diagnoses, and treatment
Root word, “Lithos”-Stone
Cholelitiasis
Nephros= Kidney
Nephritis= Kidney Infection
Sometimes two words have the same and/or
similar meanings but very different looking due
to the fact they may have two very different
origins
Examples
Skin in Greek= Derm (Dermatologist)
Skin in Latin= Cutis (Cutaneous Injections)
What does Bicycle Mean?
Dioxide?
Bi- (L for Bis) and Di- (Greek for Dis) are another
example of a pair of words that look different
because one is from Latin and the other is from
Greek, but they have the same meaning
Which is…
Indicate the basic meaning of the term.
Usually indicate body part invoved
Cardi= Heart
The Stem (root) is the part of the word which
gives the basic meaning to the term. The part
of the word “Basketball” which gives the basic
meaning is ball therefore ball is considered to
be the stem word
All words have a stem. Even everyday words
have stems. For example in the word “singer”
and “writer” and “speaker”: sing, write, and
speak are the stems. In medical terms such as
hepatome, gastrome, and arthrotome. Hepa
(means liver), Gastr (means Stomach), and arthr
(means joint) are the stems
It is very important to keep in mind that
changing ONE letter can result in a very
different meaning of the word
SPELLING IS CRUCIAL
Ilium=hip bone, ileum=part of the small intestines
Prefix
Attached before a word or word root to modify its
meaning
Example: Sub- attached to the normal = Subnormal
Suffix
Attached to the end of the word or word part to
modify its meaning
Example- Card+it is
You do: Polyathritis
Indicate location, time or number
Comes at the beginning of a word
A prefix is added at the beginning to change the
meaning of the term
Natal means pertaining to birth
Prenatal means time and events before
Perinatal means times and events during
Postnatal means times and events after
Most Prefixes end with a vowel and may be
added to other word parts without change
Example: peri+appendicitis+ Periappendicities
Dys- + -pnea= dyspnea
Pericardium
Anhydrous
The part of the word which comes before the
stem and modifies or augments the meaning of
the stem is called the prefix
Basketball
Prefixes are the easiest word part to combine
with other word parts because they usually can
be added with out change
Example- hyper=above
Hypertension means above normal tension or in other
words high blood pressure
Anti-means against so antihypertensive is the med
you take for high blood pressure
Combine pre- with operative=
Combine pre- with cancerous=
Combine anti- with coagulant=
Combine anti- with biotic=
Combine anti- with acid=
END DAY ! 
PeriAnte-, preBradyTachyMalMicroHyprHyper-
around
Before
Slow
Fast
Bad
Small
below
above
DysPolyAEndo-
Difficult
Many
Without
Inside
BiDiHemiMonoMultiNulliQuadSemiTriUni-
2
2
Half
1
Many
None
4
Partial/half
3
1
Suffix usually indicates the
Procedure, condition, disorder, or disease
Comes at the end of a word
The part of the word which comes after the
stem and modifies the meaning of the root
word
In the word specialist: Special is the stem and ist
is the suffix
Word root cannot stand alone! A Suffix must be
added
Most suffixes are in common use in english, but
few are unique to medicine
The suffixes most commonly used to indicate
disease are:
Itis meaning inflammation
Oma meaning tumor
Osis meaning condition
Some suffixes change the root word into and
adjective
Cardi/o (heart) + ac (pertaining to) = Cardiac
Some suffixes change the root word into a noun
Crani (skull) + um (noun ending) = Cranium
Osis means an abnormal condition or disease
Gastrosis means any disease of the stomach
-algia means pain
Arthralgia
-dynia mean pain
Gastrodynia
-itis means inflammation
Hepatitis
-malacia means abnormal softening
Arteriomalacia
-megaly means abnormal enlargement
Splenomegaly
-necrosis means tissue death
Arterionecrosis
-sclerosis means hardening
Arteriosclerosis
-stenosis means abnormal narrowing
Spinal stenosis
-graphy means the process of recording a
picture or record
Radiography
-gram means a record or a picture
Arteriogram
-centesis means surgical puncture to remove
fluid
Amniocentesis
-ectomy means surgical removal
Appendectomy
-rrhage and –rrhagia means abnormal excessive
fluid discharge or bleeding
Hemorrhage (excessive bleeding)
-rrhaphy (to stitch)
-rrhea (abnormal flow or discharge)
Diarrhea
-rrhexis (to rupture)
Myorrhexis (rupture of the muscle)
-ic, -al
-itis
-logy
-plasty
-tomy
-pexy
-pathy
pertaining to
imflammation
to study
surgical repair of
incision
putting something back in place
disease, condition, disorder
Myocarditis
Pericarditis
Endocarditis
Cardiologist
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomegaly