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Students of any biology course should learn to recognize the meaning of word parts as they often give clues to the meaning of a scientific term, function, or process.
Science terminology is predominately based in the Latin and Greek languages.
The following list of prefixes, suffixes, and roots will be used in this and most Biology (bio = life, logy = study of) courses.
To help with pronunciation, word parts need to be linked together. The linkage for many word parts is o. For example, linking the root cardi with the suffix -pathy
would make the word difficult to pronounce; therefore an o is used to link the root with the suffix. The completed word is written cardiopathy and pronounced kar-deop-ah-the (heart disease).
Accurate spelling of each work is also important. Changing one letter may change the word part and its meaning. Examples include: ileum is a part of the small
intestine & ilium is a bone in the hips, ped refers to the foot & pedia refers to children, ab means away & ad means toward. Finding a word in a dictionary,
glossary, or index requires a knowledge of spelling at least the beginning of a word. For example, pneumonia and psychology have a silent p.
By the end of this course you should be able to: (1) Understand the importance of medical terminology and how it can be incorporated into the study of the human body,
(2) Differentiate between a prefix, suffix, word root, and a compound term, (3) Link word parts to form medical terms, (4) Differentiate between singular and plural endings
of medical terms, (5) Dissect (cut) compound medical terms into parts to analyze their meaning, and (6) Recognize and pronounce commonly used prefixes, suffixes,
and root words used in medical terminology. The last page of this Word Part packet has a list of singular and plurals word forms.
Word Part #1
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
Without, Not
Away
Toward
Fat
Pain
Up
Vessel
Before
Against, Resisting
Water
Joint
Enzyme
Hear
Self
Two
Short
Slow
Airway
Adipose, Liposuction
Neuralgia, Fibromyalgia
Anabolic reaction
Angiogenesis, Vasodialator
Prenatal, Antebrachial, Promonocyte
Antibody, Contraception
Aqueous, hydrocephalus
Arthritis, Articulation
Maltase, Lipase
Auditory nerve
Autoimmunity
Meaning of Example(s)
2 pointed (tooth or heart valve), 2 parts within the brain, 2 round bacteria
cardcat-
Heart
Down
Word Part
Cardiology
Catabolic reaction
Meaning
Example(s)
coel-, sinu-
100, 100th
Puncture
Head
Gallbladder
Cartilage
Kill
Around
Break, Destroy
Together, With
Cavity, Space
Century, Centigram
Amniocentesis
Hydrocephalus, Biceps femoris
Cholecystokinin, Cystic duct
Chrondrocyte
Spermacide
Circumcision, Periodontal
Osteoclast
Congenital, Synthesis, System
Coelom, Frontal sinus
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
Body
Secrete, Release
Skin
Blue
Cell
Finger or Toe
10, 1/10th
Tooth/Teeth
cent-centesis
cephal-, -ceps
chol-, cystic
chondr-cide
circ-, peri-clast
co-, con-, sym-, syn-, sys-
Meaning of Example(s)
Cartilage cell
Sperm killer
Cut around (ex. male foreskin), Around the teeth
Bone breaker (cells that destroy cells, thus shaping a bone)
Born with, Put together, Organs working together
Body cavity, Space in the frontal bone
Word Part #3
corp-, soma-crine
cut, derm
cyan-cyte
dactyl, digit
dec(k)
dent, dont
dia-, per-, trans-
dys-, mal-
Meaning of Example(s)
Yellow body (former follicle in ovary),
Word Part #4
Word Part
ectopedem-emesis
-emia
en, endo-, intraepi-
Meaning
Example(s)
Appendectomy, Lobotomy, Dissect
Ectopic pregnancy
Lymphedema
Hyperemesis
Hypoglycemia
Endosteum, Intraocular
Epidermis, Epididymis
Meaning of Example(s)
Cut out appendix, Cut out cerebral (brain) lobe, Cut in two
Displaced pregnancy (embryo implant outside uterus usually oviduct)
Swelling of tissues due to the accumulation of lymph
Excessive vomiting
Low blood sugar
Cavity/space inside a bone, Inside the orbit or eye socket
Layer of skin over the dermis, Coiled tubes above the testes
Homeostasis, Isotonic
Erythrocyte
Anesthesia
Red
Sensation
Constant internal balance (of body functions), Equal solute (ICF & ECF)
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
Outside
Bundle
Opening
Stomach
Create, Form
Aging, Old
Ball
Tongue
Sugar
Woman
Extracelluar fluid
Muscle or nerve fascicle
Infraorbital foramen
Gastric bypass surgery
Meaning of Example(s)
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
Something written
Writing apparatus
Blood
Half
Liver
Six
Tissue
Over, Excessive
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Electrocardiograph
Electrocardiography
Hemothorax
Cerebral hemisphere
Hepatitis
Hexose
Histology
Hypertonic, Hyperesthesia
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
Uterus
Condition of
Inflammation of
Between
1000, 1000th
To move, Divide
Milk
Hysterectomy, Endometrium
Cholelithiasis, Nephrosis
Appendicitis
Interstitial Fluid
Kilogram, Milligram
Kinesiology, Cytokinesis
Lactose
-gram
-graph
-graphy
hemhemi-, semihepathexhisthyper-
Meaning of Example(s)
Word Part #7
hyster-, metr-iasis, -osis
-itis
interkilo-, millikinlact-
Meaning of Example(s)
Cutting out of uterus, Inner lining of uterus (lost each month in females)
Having gallstones, Kidney disorder
Inflammation (swelling, redness, warmth, & pain) of the appendix
An extracellular fluid found between cells
1000 grams, 1000th of a gram
Study of body movement (mechanics of muscles), Cell Division
Milk sugar
laparleuk(c)lig-
Abdomen
White
Connect, Bind
Laparscopy
Leucopoeisis
Ligaments, Ligase
Word Part
-mania
med-, meso-, meta-
-megaly
melanomens-metric, -meter
Meaning
Example(s)
Hydrolysis, Lysosome
Large
Breast, Chest
Obsession, Compulsion
Kleptomania
Middle
Enlargement
Black
Month
Measurement, Length
Splenomegaly
Melanocyte
Menstrual cycle
Isometric, Spirometer
Meaning of Example(s)
Word Part #9
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
Small
Memory
One
Shape
Death
Many
Change
Muscle
Nose
Birth
Meaning of Example(s)
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
neonephr-, ren
o(o), ovi
oct
New
Kidney
Egg
Eight
Eye
Neonatal
Nephrosclerosis, Renal vein
Oophorectomy, Oviduct
Octet rule
Orbicularis occuli, Ophthalmologist
Resembling, Shape of
Sigmoid colon
-oid
Meaning of Example(s)
Newborn
Hardening of the kidney, Vessel carrying blood away from kidney
Removal of ovary (egg maker), Tube transporting egg to uterus
Atoms desire to fill its outer shell with 8 electrons (allows bonding)
Muscle around eye (allows winking), Eye doctor
S-shaped (end of colon, connects to rectum)
olig-oma, onco
-opia
or(a)
Little, Few
Tumor
Vision
Mouth
Oliguria
Melanoma, Oncologist
Hyperopia
Orbicularis oris
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
-scopy
ost-ostomy
ot
palp, tact
para
path
ped, pod
pent
phago
To view, See
Bone
Make an opening
Ear
Touch, Feel
Beside
Disease
Foot, Feet
Five
Eat, Feed
Arthroscopic surgery
Osteoblast, Osteomyelitis
Tracheostomy
Otoscope
Palpate, Tactile
Parathyroid glands
Pathogenic bacteria
Pedal, Podiatrist
Pentose
Phagocyte
Word Part
Meaning
Example(s)
Drug
Speech
Vein
Light
Fear
Function
Growth, Formation
Paralysis
Breathing
Lungs, Air
Psychopharmic
Dysphagia
Phlebotomist
Photoreceptor, Gastric lumen
Hydrophobia
Physiology
Hyperplasia
Quadriplegia
Apnea ,Inspire
pharm
-phasia
phleb
photo, lumen
phobia, phobe
phys
-plasia
plegia
pnea, spir
pneum, pulmon
Meaning of Example(s)
Word Part
post
prim
proct
pseudo
psych, phren, -noia
Meaning
Example(s)
After
First
Rectum, Anus
False
Mind
Post natal
Primary bronchus
Proctoscope, Proctologist
Pseudounipolar neuron
Psychosis, Scizzophrenia
Meaning of Example(s)
After birth
First branching of the airway beyond the trachea
Apparatus used to view the rectum, Colon-Rectum-Anus specialist
Neuron common in the eye
General term for conditions affecting the brain, Split mind
quad, tetra
re-, retro
-rrhea
schlero
sept, tox
Four
Back, Again, Past
Flow, Discharge
Hard (ening)
Poison, Contaminate
Meaning
Example(s)
Narrowing
Layer
Above, Over
Fast
Pressure
Heat
Clot
Strength
Three, Third
Union
Pyloric stenosis
Stratified squamous epithelia
The 4 large muscles (of the ventral thigh), 4 conditions of blue babies
To become infected again, Inability to remember events of the recent past
Word Part
sten
strat
super, supra
tachy
-tension
therm
thromb
-tonic
tri-, tertzyg
Tachycardia
Hypertension
Thermoreceptor
Thrombocyte
Isotonic
Triglyceride, Tertiary bronchus
Zygote
Meaning of Example(s)
Narrowing of the distal stomach where it feeds into the small intestinge
The following information will be helpful to you but will not be on any of the weekly word part quizzes.
Singular
Plural
-i (thrombi, nuclei)
-ae (ampullae)
-ices (appendices, cortices)
-aces (thoraces)
-ora (femora)
-a (mitochondria, flagella)
-ena or ina (lumena, foramina)
-es (neuroses)
Credit: http://cms.fhsdschools.org/