Roots, Prefixes, Suffixes and Combining Forms Flashcards
(95 cards)
1
Q
Why use medical terms?
A
You must learn medical terms to understand conditions.
2
Q
Gastritis meaning
A
gastritis:
Gastr- refers to the stomach, and –itis refers to
inflammation, therefore gastritis means inflammation of the stomach.
3
Q
gastrotomy meaning
A
gastrotomy:
Gastr- refers to stomach, and –tomy refer to
incision, therefore gastrotomy means incision made into the stomach.
4
Q
root word: cardi
A
meaning: heart
5
Q
cerebr
A
brain, cerebrum
6
Q
col, colon
A
colon (section of large intestine)
7
Q
crani
A
cranium, skull
8
Q
dermat
A
skin
9
Q
disk
A
disk (disk of spine)
10
Q
gastr
A
stomach
11
Q
oste
A
bone
12
Q
nephr, ren
A
kidney
13
Q
pulmon
A
lung
14
Q
skull
A
crani
15
Q
heart
A
cardi
16
Q
stomach
A
gastr
17
Q
colon
A
col, colon
18
Q
kidney
A
nephr, ren
19
Q
Prefixes are a second type of word part.
● Pre- means _______
● Prefix is the word part that comes before the word root in a medical term.
(e.g., prenatal).
A
before
20
Q
Prefixes always contribute to the ______ of the term, usually by simply adding the meaning of the prefix to the word root.
❖ Example: post- means after, so post-surgical means _______ ______.
A
meaning; after surgery
21
Q
pre
A
before
22
Q
post
A
after, behind
23
Q
peri
A
around, surrounding
24
Q
intra
A
within
25
inter
between
26
sub, infra
below, beneath
27
supra, super
above
28
a-, an-
without, not
29
poly
many, much
30
dys
painful, difficult, abnormal
31
give the prefix of without, not
a-, an-
32
give the prefix of above
supra, super
33
give the prefix of below
sub, infra
34
Suffixes are a third type of word part.
● Suffixes is the word part that comes _____ the word root.
❖ Example: the suffix –ac and –al means “pertaining to”
after
35
cardiac meaning
pertaining to the heart
36
cranial
pertaining to the skull
37
Suffixes always contribute to the meaning of the term, usually by simply
adding the meaning of the suffix to the word root (and prefix if present)
● Example: post- means after, so post-surgical means _____ _______.
after surgery
38
suffix: -ac, -al, -ary, -ic, -ous
pertaining to
39
algia
pain
40
ectomy
excision, surgical removal
41
gram
record, recording
42
ism, ia
condition of
43
itis
inflammation
44
ium
tissue, structure
45
logy
study of
46
oma
tumor
47
tomy
incision
48
A combining vowel is a word part that is used but does not carry a meaning.
● It is a vowel (usually “o” and sometimes “I” or “e”) that is added to the word root to make it easier to pronounce the term; often added after
the word root and before joining another root or a suffix.
● Example: adding the suffix –logy directly to the word root “dermat” you
would get “dermatlogy”, it sounds less off when you add the “o” making
it “dermatology”
● The result of combining the combining vowel along the word root is
called a _________ ______.
combining form
49
Instead of learning the word root cardi, we will learn cardi/o: the slash is
used to indicate that depending on the other word part following the
combining form, the combining vowel may or may not be used.
❖ E.g.: peri + cardi/o + -ium = ________________ (tissue around the heart) – the “o” is not used.
❖ E.g., cardi/o + -logy = ________ (study of the heart) – the “o” is
used.
pericardium; cardiology
50
If combining form (without the optional vowel) ends with the same vowel that the suffix begins with, then the vowel is _________ to prevent repetition. (example: pericardium)
dropped
51
combining form: cardi/o
meaning: heart
52
cerebr/o
brain, cerebrum
53
col/o, colon/o
colon
54
crani/o
cranium, skull
55
deramt/o
skin
56
disk/o
disk
57
gastr/o
stomach
58
nephro/o, ren/o
kidney
59
oste/o
bone
60
pulmon/o
lung
61
Rules for putting the parts together
1. Use the combining vowel when a combining form is joined to a suffix that does not begin with a vowel.
nephr/o (kidney) + -logy (study of) = nephrology (study of the
kidneys)
2. Do not use the combining vowel when a combining form is joined to a
suffix that does begin with a vowel:
Arthr/o (joint) + -itis (inflammation) = arthritis (no o)
(inflammation of the joint).
3. And if the suffix begins with the same vowel as the combining form
ends with, do not repeat it:
cardi/o + -itis = carditis.
4. Use the combining vowel when two combining forms are joined together:
my/o (muscle) + cardi/o (heart) + -al = myocardial (pertaining to the heart muscle).
Note that this rule holds true usually even if the second combining form already begins with a vowel:
oste/o (bone) + arthr/o (joint) + -itis = osteoarthritis (inflammation
of the bone and joint)
62
Intra- + crani/o + -al = __________________ (pertaining to within the skull)
Intracranial
63
Sub- + pulmon/o + -ary= ______________ (pertaining to below the lungs)
Subpulmonary
64
Cardi/o + -gram= ________________ (record of heart activity)
Cardiogram
65
Oste/o + -algia= _________________ (pain in a bone)
Ostealgia
66
Gastr/o + -tomy: _________________ (incision into the stomach)
Gastrotomy
67
Some medical terms also add an –s (or –es) to make a plural, but many
do not.
● They have special endings related to their origins in Greek or Latin.
❖ Example: if the singular ends in ___ (vertebra – one bone in the spine),
then the plural ends in ____ (vertebrae – the bones in the spine)
● The special plurals do not occur in all terms ending in those letters so you
must learn the plural form when you learn the term.
a;ae
68
a/ae plural ending example
vertebra, vertebrae
69
en/ina plural ending example
lumen, lumina
70
ex, ix,yx/ices plural ending example
index, indices
71
is/es plural ending example
ankylosis, ankyloses,
72
on/a plural ending example
phenomenon, phenomena;
spermatozoon, spermatozoa
73
um/a plural ending example
diverticulum, diverticula; atrium, atria
74
us/i plural ending example
nucleus, nuclei; glomerulus, glomeruli
75
x, nx/ges, nges plural ending example
phalanx, phalanges
76
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
1. Embolus (clot) ________________
Emboli
77
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
2. Varicosis (swollen vein) ______________
Varicoses
78
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
3. Aorta (vessel if heart) ________________
Aortae
79
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
4. Larynx (voice box) ________________
larynges
80
Write the correct plural form of the singular term given:
5. Ulcer ________________________
ulcers
81
The pronunciation is indicated with letter of the alphabet and ______ marks (‘) that indicate which syllable (or syllables) should be accented.
stress
82
To define a term based on its word parts:
1. Begin by analyzing the meaning of the suffix.
2. Then analyze the meaning of the prefix (if present).
3. Then analyze the meaning of the root or roots.
83
define intracerebral based on its word parts
intra- (within) + cerebr/o (brain) + -al (pertaining to)
= pertaining to the brain
84
nephrectomy meaning
kidney + incision
=surgical removal of kidney
85
arthritis meaning
joint + inflammation of
=inflammation of joint
86
pulmonary meaning
lung
=issues relating to lungs
87
colonitis
colon + inflammation of
=inflammation of colon
88
osteal
bone (oste) + relating to (al)
= relating to the bone
89
cardiotomy
heart (cardio) + incision (tomy)
=surgical removal of heart
90
what's the term for inflammation of the skin?
skin (dermat) + inflammation (itis)
=dermatitis
91
what's the term for pertaining to the area around the heart?
pertaining to (al) + heart (cardio)
=cardial
92
what's the term for surgical removal of a disk?
surgical removal (tomy) + disk (disk/o)
=diskotomy
or excision (ectomy) + disk
= diskectomy
93
what's the term for tumour of bone?
bone (oste) + tumour (oma)
osteoma
94
what's the term for pertaining to the kidney?
pertaining to (al) + kidney (nephr, ren)
renal
95
Medical terms include the following basic parts:
1. Word root: main part of the word (crani)
2. Prefix: word part added before the root (intra-)
3. Suffix: word part added after the root (-al)
inta- + crani + -al = intracranial
