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Health care workers need to know many medical terms in order to do their jobs well. Medical Terminology Knowledge Constructed There are 4 categories of medical terms: terms Eponyms Abbreviations Acronyms TAKE THIS DOWN IN YOUR NOTES, PLEASE! Medical terms made up of several distinct parts. Medical Terms named after the people who discovered a disease or scientific process. Example: “Pasteurization” is an Eponym named after the scientist Louis Pasteur. Short versions of longer words. For example: Histo is the short version of the word: Histology , which means the “study of tissues” Another example: Stat is the short version of the word: Statim, which is a Latin word that means “immediately” Words created from the first letter of each word found in a group of words. For example: “SOB” stands for: “Short Of Breath.” Constructed terms Abbreviations Eponyms Acronyms The most prevalent type of medical terms Words made up of several parts. . . Biology The first part is: Bio- The second part is: -logy Bio + logy = Biology Bio- means: Life, Living Things -logy means: (the) Study of How would you define: “Biology” from its parts? “The study of Life and Living things” This means we are actually taking apart words, defining the meaning of the individual parts, and building a whole definition based on the meanings of the parts. Word parts can include: Prefixes Word Roots Suffixes Combining Vowels What do we call medical terms that are built by connecting word parts/word elements? Constructed Terms What word parts/word elements are typically used to build constructed terms? Word Roots Prefixes Suffixes Combining vowels Let’s look at another constructed medical term, “Physiology”. Physi/o/logy = Physi = nature (word root) -logy = the study of (suffix) Defined as: The study of nature Did you notice in the last word, physiology, that there is a vowel– “o”—that stands alone? This is called the combining vowel. Word root = Physi Suffix = -logy Physi = Nature -logy = (the) study of So, in the word physiology, how does the vowel— “o”– function? It isn’t part of the word root or the suffix. Remember: Physi: (word root) = “Nature” -logy: (suffix) = “the study of” What about the “o”? Why is the “o” even there? The vowel– “o”– functions as a connector between the word root, Physi, and the suffix, -logy. We need to add the vowel “o” because the suffix—logy, begins with a consonant letter, “L.” To review, medical terms that are constructed from parts may include: Word Roots Prefixes Suffixes One or more Combining Vowels (usually an “o” or an “i” Let’s learn about each of these things separately. First: Word Roots. The Word Root is the basic foundation of a constructed medical term It usually tells about a body part/system CARDI = HEART The meaning of “cardi” will never change! HEART But it isn’t a complete word. We need to add more parts to make it more meaningful. We must add a suffix (ending). . . and. . . …we might add a prefix, but not necessarily in every case. -LOGY = The study/knowledge of + . . .but something is still missing. . . Because the suffix (-logy) begins with a consonant letter- “L”- we need to put a combining vowel between the suffix “logy” and the word root “cardi”. The best combining vowel to use here is: Pronounced: Car-dee-ah-la-gee So, “cardiology” must mean: The study/knowledge of the heart Is “logy” the only suffix that we can add onto the word root “cardi”? Of course not! There are quite a number of different suffixes that can be added to any word root, including “cardi.” ? No combining vowel is needed because the suffix – “itis” already begins with a vowel, “i”. We can combine the “i” of “cardi” and the “i” from “itis”. So, “Carditis.” which means: “inflammation of the heart.” We’ve talked about: Word Roots Suffixes Combining Vowels Now let’s talk about PREFIXES Always attaches to the BEGINNING of a word **IMPORTANT NOTE: The meaning of a prefix always remains the same. Example: endo always means “within” no matter what it attaches to. Look at the words: endothelium, endocarditis, endotracheal, endoscope In all of these words, endo- always means “within”. *****IMPORTANT NOTE***** Not all medical terms (words) have prefixes! Prefixes are added to the beginning of some word roots to provide more specific meaning. Again we combine the “i” from “cardi” with the “i” from “itis”, and then add the prefix “endo,” giving us: “Endocarditis” “Carditis” means “Inflammation of the Heart.” “Endocarditis” means “Inflammation within the heart.” ◦ Prefixes are placed where? ◦ Suffixes are placed where? ◦ Combining vowels are used when? at the beginning of words at the end of word roots when the suffix begins with a consonant letter