Chapter 1
Introduction to Veterinary
terminology
VTHT 1205
Dr. Dipa Brahmbhatt & Ms. Krista Wilkerson
Guidelines
Syllabus
Text
• Blood, D. C. and
Studdert, V. P.,
Saunders
Comprehensive
Veterinary Dictionary,
2nd Edition, W. B.
Saunders, 1999, ISBN
0702020346.
• Flash cards
Flashcards
The male Cocker Spaniel lies in left lateral
recumbency on the carpet, exposing his ventral
abdomen and thorax. His carpi and stifles are
flexed and his right hind limb is abducted from
the body.
The tortoise-shelled Domestic Long Haired
feline has her sight focused on an object
outside. Her weight rests on the plantar surface
of her distal hind limbs, while the palmar
surface of her left forelimb is placed on the
windowsill. Her pinnas are erect and pointed
cranially and her mandible is lowered,
exposing her canine teeth and allowing her to
vocalize at the object.
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TYMPANIC MEMBRANE
ABDUCTION
BOWMAN’S CAPSULE
ERUCTATION
ERYTHROCYTE
CRYPTORCHIDISM
PERISTALSIS
PARTURITION
CANNON BONE
CYANOTIC
OBJECTIVE
• 75% terms based in Greek and Latin
• Fundamentals
– ID: Prefix, suffix, root, combination
• Application
– Anatomy & Physiology: Relate roots to systems of the body
Dermo (Epidermis, Dermatologist, Hypodermic needle)
Uro (ureter, urolith, urologist)
– Veterinary field: Private practice, academic setting, research
– Illustrations/diagrams/charts
– Review questions
PREFIX
• Beginning of a word
• Cannot stand alone
attached to a root
– Antibiotic
• ANTI
• Against
– Asepsis
• a-, an- +
• Greek: prefix; no, absence
of, without, lack of, not
SUFFIX
• End part of a word
• Cannot stand alone
attached to a root
• Erythrocyte
– -cyte: cell
• -itis, -logy, -ous, tion
ROOT
• Foundation of word
• +/- prefix/suffix or
between
• Rhin, duct, ject,
arthr, bio
• Rhinintis
–Rhin: nose
COMBINING FORM
• Combining form
– Helps with pronunciation
– Root + added vowel
• combining vowel
– Root + suffix/ root
• Arteriosclerosis
– Blephar/o/spasm, ot/o/scope, enter/o/tomy,
ven/e/puncture, bronch/i/ole, meg/a/cardia
ROOTS / COMPOUNDS
• Compounds: More than 1 root
– Arteriosclerosis: Hardening of arteries
• Arteri: Artery
• O: combining vowel
• Scler: Hardening
• -osis: state/condition
• Bookmark, airplane
• Laparoscope, mammogram
PRONUNCIATION
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“ch” sounds like “k” : chronological, chronic
“ps” has a silent p : psychiatry, psyllium;
“pn” has a silent p: pneumonia; pneusis
When placed in front of “e, i, or y”,
– “g” can sound like “j”
• gel, gypsy, gin
– “c” can sound like “s”
• cellar, cypress, cilia
• “i” at the end of a word (plural): eye
– Aveoli, glomeruli, fasciculi
• “es”: end of word is separate syllable
– Stases (seez); nares (reez)
PLURAL
• Singular: ends in us
– Plural ends in i
• Carpus -> carpi
• Glomerulus -> glomeruli
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Phalanx -> phalanges
Cranium -> crania
Fascia -> fasciae
Adenoma -> adenomata
SPELLINGS
• “This payshent has a
feever.” - unprofessional
• Ileum in bowel vs.
Ilium in pelvis– could lead to
misdiagnosis of a
condition
– inappropriate work-up