MEDICAL
TERMINOLOGY
Most medical terms are formed by
a combination of basic word parts
Word Parts
Word Roots
• Act as the foundation of most medical terms
• Usually indicate the involved body part
 encephal/o
 cardi/o
 pneum/o
brain
heart
lung
Suffixes
• Found at the end of a word
• Usually indicate the procedure, condition,
disorder, or disease
 -ectomy
 -osis
 -oma
surgical removal of
abnormal condition
tumor
Prefixes
• Found at the beginning of a word
• Usually indicate location, time, number, or
status
 post-
 peri tri-
after
around
three
Combining Vowels
*A combining vowel may be needed
between the word root and the suffix to
make the medical term easier to
pronounce
Combining Vowels
1.
A combining vowel – usually “o”- is used
when the suffix begins with a consonant
EX: neur/o (nerve) + -plasty (surgical
repair)
neuroplasty
Combining Vowels
2.
A combining vowel is not used when the
suffix begins with a vowel
EX: neur/o (nerve) + -itis
(inflammation)
neuritis
Combining Vowels
3.
A combining vowel is always used when
two or more root words are joined
EX: gastr/o(stomach) + enter/o(intestine)
gastroentero
Gastroentero + -itis = gastroenteritis
Combining Vowels
4. A prefix does not require a combining
vowel
Practice
Prefix
poly-
+
Root Word
neur/o
+
Suffix
-itis
polyneuritis
inflammation of many nerves
Practice
Prefix
+
hyperexcessive
Root Word
gastr/o
stomach
+
hypergastralgia
excessive stomach pain
Suffix
-algia
pain
Terminology Game
hyperemesis
splenomegaly
hemangioma
bradypnea
cholecystectomy
hyperglycemia
osteomyelitis
endocarditis
endoscopicretrogradecholangiopancreatography
Assigned Root Words
angi/o
 cardi/o
 colon/o, col/o
 derm/o, dermat/o
 enter/o
 gastr/o
 my/o
 neur/o
 trache/o

vessel
heart
colon (lg intestine)
skin
intestine
stomach
muscle
nerve
trachea
Assigned Prefixes
hyper hypo post pre
excessive, above
less than, below
after
before
Assigned Suffixes
-algia
 -ectomy
 -emesis
 -gram
 -ic
 -itis
 -ologist
 -ology

pain
surgical removal of
vomit
record
pertaining to
inflammation of
specialist
study of
Assigned Suffixes

-ostomy
 -otomy
 -plasty
 -scopy
artificial opening
incision into
surgical repair
visual exam
-ia
 -ism
 -osis
 -otic
condition
condition
condition
condition

Physician’s Orders
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Diagnosis: Congestive Heart Failure
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing
every 4 hours
Chest x-ray immediately
Arterial blood gases, complete blood
count, electrolytes, and urinalysis
Intravenous of normal saline at 100
cubic centimeters per hour
Physician’s Orders
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Dx: CHF
IPPB q4h
CXR stat
ABGs, CBC, lytes, UA
IV of NS @ 100cc/hr
Medical Abbreviations
• Medical abbreviations are used to cut down
on the time spent documenting patient care
• Some abbreviations are universal - others are
specific to areas of the country or medical
facilities
• Upper and lower case specific
Medical Abbreviations
EX: pt = patient
PT = physical therapy
*It is YOUR responsibility to know the approved
medical abbreviations for your medical facility
Assigned Abbreviations
_
 c : with
_
 s : without
_
 p : after
_
 a : before
Assigned Abbreviations

@
at

h
hour

ad lib
as desired

MD
medical doctor

ASAP
as soon as
possible

prn
as needed

q
every
complains of  pt
 d
day
 stat
 Dx, dx diagnosis
 TLC

c/o
(what’s wrong)
patient
immediately
tender, loving
care
Medical Abbreviations

bid twice a day

HOB
head of bed

qid four times a day

D/C
discharge,

tid three times a day

qod every other day
discontinue
CXR
chest x ray
History

tx
treatment


Sx
sign, symptom

Hx

VS
vital signs

NPO
Nothing by
mouth