Transcript Medical Prefixes and Suffixes

Medical Prefixes and Suffixes
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Medical words like most English words are
from Latin or Greek.
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A word root is a part of a word. It contains the
core meaning of the word, but it cannot stand
alone.
A prefix is also a word part that cannot stand
alone. It is placed at the beginning of a word to
change its meaning.
A suffix is a word part that is placed at the end
of a word to change its meaning.
Often you can guess the meaning of an
unfamiliar word if you know the meaning of
its parts.
Disease/Organ Prefixes I
Cardi-, cardio(heart)
Cerebr- Cerebro(brain/CNS)
Cervi- Cervic(neck)
Denti- (tooth)
Encephal- (brain)
Cardiovascular, cardio arrest
Cerebrospinal,
cerebrovascular腦血管
Cervical, cervix (neck of the
uterus), Cervical spondylosis
頸椎病
Dentinitis, dentist, dental
Encephalitis腦炎,
encephalomeningitis腦膜炎
Disease/Organ Prefixes II
Gastr- (stomach)
Gastroenteritis ,
gastrectomy, gastritis
Leuko- (white Blood cell) Leukemia, leukocyte
(white blood cell)
Ortho- (make straight) Orthodontic, orthodox
Osteo- (bone)
Osteoporosis 骨質疏鬆
Disease Suffixes I
-algia (pain)
-cyte (cell)
-ectomy (removal of a
body part)
-emesis (vomit)
-emia (blood)
Arthralgia關節痛,
gastralgia胃痛
Leukocyte
Duodenectomy,
Gastrectomy
Hematemesis,
hyperemesis
Leukemia, anemia
Disease Suffixes II
-itis (inflammation)
-lumb- (waist)
-megaly (enlarge)
-oma (tumor)
-opia
Hepatitis, conjunctivitis結
膜炎, gastritis
Lumbar puncture腰椎穿刺
hepatomegaly,
prostatemegaly
Lymphoma, carcinoma,
sarcoma
Myopia, amblyopia,
hyperopia
Disease Suffixes III
-otomy
Gastrotomy, enterotomy腸
切開, episiotomy會陰切開
-ostomy (opening on Colostomy, gastrostomy
body)
-pepsia (relating to Dyspepsia消化不良,
digestion)
-pnea (breath)
Apnea窒息,
tachypnea(rapid breathing)
-uria (urine)
Hematuria, anuria
(hema-, hemo-: blood)
Disease Suffixes IV
-rrhagia (rapid flow Cystorrhagia 膀胱出血,
of blood)
menorrhagia
(疾病位置+rrhagia)
-rrhage (burst forth) Hemorrhage, intracerebral
hemorrhage顱內出血
-rrhea (discharge) Amenorrhea停經, diarrhea,
rhinorrhea(nose+…)
-scopy
Gastroscopy, colonscopy,
retinoscopy, endoscopy
-septic (with
Septicemia敗血, aseptic
infectious origin)
Disease Roots I
Angio- (blood vessel) Angiomyolipoma,
angioma, angiography
DermDermatitis, derma真皮,
dermatology
DermoEnter-, enteroEnteritis
(intestine 腸)
Hepat-, hepato- (liver Hepatitis, hepatoma,
hepatic (a.)
肝)
Lapar-, laparo- (belly) Laparotomy, laparoscope
Disease Roots II
Meno-
Menopause, menorrhalgia
Nephr-, nephro-
Nephritis
Pneumo- (lungs)
Pneumonia, pneumothorax
氣胸
Ren-, reno- (kidney) Renal, renopathy
Thorac-, thoraco(upper chest)
Thoracodynia胸痛,
thoracometry胸廓測量法
Disease Roots III
Ureter-, uretero- 輸尿 Ureteropathy,
Ureterocystoscope
管
Urethr-, urethro- 尿道 Urethrocystitis
Uro- 泌尿
Uter-, utero- 子宮的
Urolith尿路結石,
urography泌尿道攝影
Uterogestation, uterine
Vagin-, vagino- 陰道
Vaginitis, vagina
Disease Roots IV
Vascul-, vasculo- (blood Vasculitis,
vessel)
cardiovascular
Other Useful Words
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Inpatient Department
Outpatient Department
Emergency Room
Blood bank
Computerized tomography
Electrocardiography
electromyography
English Prefix and Suffix
Latin Prefix Basic Meaning
Examples
co-
together
coauthor, coedit, coheir,
cooperate
de-
away, off; generally
indicates reversal or
removal in English
deactivate, debone, defrost,
deplane
dis-
not, not any
disbelief, discomfort,
disrespect
inter-
between, among
international, internet
intercontinental
non-
not
nonessential, nonresident,
nonviolent, nonstop
Latin Prefix
Basic Meaning
Examples
post-
after
postwar, postnatal,
postseason, postpartum
pre-
before
premature, preexist,
prenatal, prepay
re-
again, back, backward
rearrange, rebuild, recall,
remake, rerun, rewrite
sub-
under
submarine, subway,
subhuman, substandard
trans-
across, beyond, through, transatlantic, transcend,
change
transpolar, transition,
transplant
Latin Suffix Basic Meaning
Examples
-able, -ible,
likable, workable,
doable, possible,
flexible
creation,
civilization,
interaction,
information,
combination
purify, acidify,
humidify, notify
-ation
-fy, -ify
forms adjectives and
means “capable or
worthy of”
forms nouns from verbs
forms verbs and means
“to make or cause to
become”
Latin Suffix Basic Meaning Examples
-ment
forms nouns
from verbs
entertainment,
amazement,
statement,
government,
management
-ty, -ity
forms nouns
certainty, cruelty,
from adjectives loyalty, royalty;
electricity,
similarity,
Greek Root Basic Meaning Examples
-anthrop-
human
philanthropy,
anthropology
-chron-
time
chronic, chronicle,
synchronize,
-dem-
people
democracy,
demography,
pandemic
Greek Root
Basic Meaning
Examples
-path-
feeling, suffering
empathy, sympathy,
psychopath
-pedo-,
ped-
- child, children
pediatrician,
-philo-,
phil-
- having a strong
affinity or love for
philanthropy,
philosophy
-phon-
sound
xylophone, phonetics,
telephone
Greek Prefix
Basic Meaning
Examples
a-, an-
without
amoral, atypical,
anaerobic (aerobic)
anti-, ant-
opposite;
opposing
antigovernment,
antipollution
auto-
self, same
autobiography,
automatic, autopilot
bio-, bi-
life, living
organism
biology, biophysics,
biotechnology, biopsy
Prefix
Basic Meaning
Examples
hyper-
excessive,
excessively
hyperactive, hypertension,
hypersensitive,
hyperglycemia
Hypo-
Less than normal, Hypotension, hypoglycemia,
hypothermia,
Under, below
hypothyroidism
small
microscope, microbiology,
microprocessor
micro-
mono-
one, single, alone Monochrome單色,
monoxide, infectious
mononucleosis傳染性單核
球過多
Greek Prefix
Basic Meaning
Examples
neo-
new, recent
pan-
all
neoclassical,
neonatal,
neocolonialism
panorama,
pandemic
thermo-, therm-
heat
thermal,
thermometer,
thermostat
Suffix
Basic Meaning
Examples
-ism
forms nouns and means “the
act, state, or theory of”
criticism, optimism,
capitalism, idealism
-ist
forms agent nouns from verbs modernist, cyclist,
ending in -ize or nouns ending biologist, dentist,
in -ism and is used like –er
psychologist
-ize
forms verbs from nouns and
adjectives
formalize, jeopardize,
legalize, modernize,
hospitalize,
industrialize,
computerize
Suffix
Basic Meaning
Examples
-gram
something written or
drawn, a record
cardiogram,
telegram
-logy
science, theory, study
psychology, biology,
epidemiology,
dermatology,
pathology, zoology
Website
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medic
al_roots,_suffixes_and_prefixes
http://www.merriamwebster.com/medical/
Words to Memorize
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1. cardiovascular
2. gastroenteritis
3. osteoporosis
4. anemia
5. dyspepsia
6. hematuria
7. diarrhea
8. angiomyolipoma
9. dermatology
10. menopause
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11. pneumonia
12. vagina
13. postpartum
14. premature
15. pediatrician
16. philanthropy
17. hypertension
18. hypothermia
19. neonatal
20. pandemic