COMPLETE MEDICAL RECORDS

with activities that provide real-life examples
for each body system

DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC PROCEDURES

that clearly show how diseases and disorders are
diagnosed and treated

EXERCISE AND ACTIVITY WORKSHEETS

in each chapter that help track your progress and prepare you
for quizzes and tests

Basic Elements of
a Medical Word

CHAPTER

1

Chapter Outline

Objectives
Medical Word Elements

Word Roots
Combining Forms
Suffixes
Prefixes

Basic Rules

Defining Medical Words
Building Medical Words

Pronunciation Guidelines

Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

Identify the four word elements used to build med-
ical words.
Divide medical words into their component parts.
Apply the basic rules to define and build medical
words.
Locate the pronunciation guidelines chart and
interpret pronunciation marks.
Pronounce medical terms presented in this chapter.
Demonstrate your knowledge of this chapter by
completing the learning activities.

2

CHAPTER 1 • Basic Elements of a Medical Word

Medical Word Elements

The language of medicine is a specialized vocabulary used by health care practitioners. Many current medical word elements originated as early as the 1st century B.C., when Hippocrates practiced medicine. With advancements in medicine, new terms have evolved to reflect these innovations. For example, radiographic terms, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound (US), are now used to describe current diagnostic procedures.

A medical word consists of some or all of the following elements: word root, combining form, suffix, and prefix. How you combine these elements, and whether all or some of them are present in a medical term, determines the meaning of a word. The purpose of this chapter is to help you identify these elements in order to construct medical terms correctly.

Word Roots

A word root is the foundation of a medical term and contains its primary meaning. All medical terms have at least one word root. Most word roots are derived from Greek or Latin language. Thus, two different roots may have the same meaning. For example, the Greek word dermatos and the Latin word cutane both refer to the skin. As a general rule, Greek roots are used to build words that describe a disease, condition, treatment, or diagnosis. Latin roots are used to build words that describe anatomical structures. Consequently, the Greek root dermat is used primarily in terms that describe a disease, condition, treatment, or diagnosis of the skin; the Latin root cutane is used primarily to describe an anatomical structure. (See Table 1-1.)

Table 1-1

Examples of Word Roots

This table lists examples of word roots as well as their phonetic pronunciations. Begin learning the pronunciations as you review the information below.

English Term

Greek or Latin Term*

Word Root

Word Analysis

skin

kidney

mouth

dermatos (Gr)

cutis (L)

nephros (Gr)

renes (L)

stomatos (Gr)

oris (L)

dermat

cutane

nephr

ren

stomat

or

dermat/itis (dĕr-mă-TĪ-tĭs): inflamma-
tion of the skin
A term that describes a skin disease
cutane/ous (sŭb-kū-TĀ-nē-ŭs):
pertaining to the skin
A term that describes an anatomical
structure

nephr/oma (nĕ-FRŌ-mă): tumor of
the kidney
A term that describes a kidney
disease
ren/al (RĒ-năl): pertains to the kidney
A term that describes an anatomical
structure

stomat/itis (stō-mă-TĪ-tĭs): inflammation
of the mouth
A term that describes any inflammatory
condition of the mouth
or/al (OR-ăl): pertaining to the
mouth
A term that describes an anatomical
structure

*It is not important to know the origin of a medical word.This information is provided here to help avoid confusion and illustrate
that there may be two different word roots for a single term.

Medical Word Elements

3

Combining Forms

A combining form is created when a word root is combined with a vowel. The vowel, known as a combining vowel, is usually an o, but sometimes it is an i. The combining vowel has no meaning of its own, but enables two word elements to be con- nected. Like the word root, the combining form is the basic foundation to which other word elements are added to build a complete medical word. In this text, a combining form will be listed as word root/vowel (such as gastr/o), as illustrated in Table 1-2.

Suffixes

A suffix is a word element placed at the end of a word that changes the meaning of the word. In the terms tonsill/itis, and tonsill /ectomy, the suffixes are -itis (inflammation) and -ectomy (excision, removal). Changing the suffix changes the meaning of the word. In medical terminology, a suffix usually describes a pathology (disease or abnormality), symptom, surgical or diagnostic procedure, or part of speech. Many suffixes are derived from Greek or Latin words. (See Table 1-3.)

Table 1-2

Examples of Combining Forms

This table illustrates how word roots and vowels create combining forms. Learning combining forms
rather than word roots makes pronunciation a little easier because of the terminal vowel. For example,
in the table below, the word roots gastr and nephr are difficult to pronounce, whereas their combining
forms gastr/o and nephr/o are easier to pronounce.

Word Root

+

Vowel

=

Combining Form

Meaning

erythr/
gastr/
hepat/
immun/
nephr/
oste/

+
+
+
+
+
+

o
o
o
o
o
o

=
=
=
=
=
=

erythr/o
gastr/o
hepat/o
immun/o
nephr/o
oste/o

red
stomach
liver
immune, immunity, safe
kidney
bone

Table 1-3

Examples of Suffixes

This table lists examples of pathological suffixes as well as their phonetic pronunciations. Begin learn-
ing the pronunciations as you review the information below.

Combining
Form

+

Suffix

=

Medical Word

Meaning

gastr/o
(stomach)

hepat/o
(liver)

+
+
+
+
+
+

-itis
(inflammation)

-megaly
(enlargement)

-oma
(tumor)

-itis
(inflammation)

-megaly
(enlargement)

-oma
(tumor)

=

=

=

=

=

=

gastritis
găs-TRĪ-tĭs
gastromegaly
găs-trō-MĔG-ă-lē
gastroma
găs-TRŌ-mă
hepatitis
hĕp-ă-TĪ -tĭs
hepatomegaly
hĕp-ă-tō-MĔG-ă-lē
hepatoma
hĕp-ă-TŌ-mă

inflammation of the stomach
enlargement of the stomach
tumor of the stomach
inflammation of the liver
enlargement of the liver
tumor of the liver

4

CHAPTER 1 • Basic Elements of a Medical Word

Prefixes

A prefix is a word element attached to the beginning of a word or word root. However, not all medical terms have a prefix. Adding or changing a prefix changes the meaning of the word. The prefix usually indicates a number, time, position, direction, or negation. Many of the same prefixes used in medical terminology are also used in the English language. (See Table 1-4.)

Basic Guidelines

Defining and building medical words are crucial skills in mastering medical terminology. Fol-lowing the basic guidelines for each will help you develop these skills.

Defining Medical Words

Here are three basic steps for defining medical words using gastroenteritis as an example.

1. Define the suffix, or last part of the word. In
this case, the suffix -itis, which means inflam-
mation.

2. Define the first part of the word (which may
be a word root, combining form, or prefix).
In this case, the combining form gastr/o
means stomach.

3. Define the middle parts of the word. In
this case, the word root enter means intes-
tine. When you analyze gastroenteritis
following the three previous rules, the
meaning is:

1. inflammation (of)
2. stomach (and)
3. intestine.

Thus, the meaning of gastroenteritis is inflammation (of) stomach (and) intestine. Table 1-5 on page 4 further illustrates this process.

Table 1-4

Examples of Prefixes

This table lists examples of prefixes as well as their phonetic pronunciations. Begin learning the pronunciations as you review the information below.

Prefix

+

Word
Root

+

Suffix

=

Medical Word

Meaning

an-
(without, not)

hyper-
(excessive,
above normal)

intra-
(in, within)

para-
(near, beside;
beyond)

poly-
many, much

+

+

+

+

+

esthes
(feeling)

therm
(heat)

muscul
(muscle)

nas
(nose)

ur
(urine)

+

+

+

+

+

-ia
(condition)

-ia
(condition)

-ar
(pertaining to)

-al
(pertaining to)

-ia
(condition)

=

=

=

=

=

anesthesia
ăn-ĕs-THĒ-zē-ă

hyperthermia
hī-pĕr-THĔR-mē-ă

intramuscular
ĭn-tră-MŬS-kū-lăr

paranasal
păr-ă-NĀ-săl

polyuria
pŏl-ē-Ū-rē-ă

condition of not feeling

condition of excessive
heat

pertaining to within
the muscle

pertaining to (area)
near the nose

condition of much
urine

Table 1-5

Defining Gastroenteritis

This table illustrates three steps of defining a medical word using the example gastroenteritis.

Combining Form

Middle

Suffix

gastr/o
stomach
(step 2)

enter/
intestine
(step 3)

-itis
inflammation
(step 1)

Basic Guidelines

5

Building Medical Words

There are three basic rules for building medical words.

Rule #1

A word root links a suffix that begins with a vowel.

Rule #2

A combining form (root + o) links a suffix that begins with a consonant.

Rule #3

A combining form links a root to another root to form a compound word. This rule holds true even if the next root begins with a vowel, as in osteoarthritis. Keep in mind that the rules for linking multiple roots to each other are slightly different from the rules for linking roots and combining forms to suffixes.

Rule 1

Word Root

+

Suffix

=

Medical Word

Meaning

hepat
liver

+

-itis
inflammation

=

hepatitis
hĕp-ă-TĪ-tĭs

inflammation of the liver

Rule 2

Combining Form

+

Suffix

=

Medical Word

Meaning

hepat/o
liver

+

-cyte
cell

=

hepatocyte
HĔP-ă-tō-sīt

liver cell

Rule 3

Combining
Form

+

Word Root

+

Suffix

=

Medical Word

Meaning

oste/o
(bone)

+

chondr
cartilage

arthr
joint

+

+

-itis
inflammation

-itis
inflammation

=
=

osteochondritis
ŏs-tē-ō-kŏn-DRĪ-tĭs

osteoarthritis
ŏs-tē-ō-ăr-THRĪ-tĭs

inflammation
of bone and
cartilage
inflammation
of bone and
joint

It is Time to review medical word elements by completing Learning Activity 1-1. and 1-2.

6

CHAPTER 1 • Basic Elements of a Medical Word

Pronunciation Guidelines

Although pronunciations of medical words usually follows the same rules that govern pronunciations of English words, some medical words may be difficult to pronounce when first encountered.

Therefore, selected terms in this book include phonetic pronunciation. Also, pronunciation guide-lines can be found on the inside front cover of this book and at the end of selected tables. Use them whenever you need help with pronunciation of medical words.

It is Time to review pronunciations, analysis of word elements, and defining medical terms by
completing Learning Activities 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5.

Learning Activities

7

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

The following activities provide a review of the basic medical word elements introduced in
this chapter. Complete each activity and review your answers to evaluate your understand-
ing of this chapter.

Learning Activity 1-1

Understanding Medical Word Elements

Fill in the following blanks to complete the sentences correctly.

1.The four elements used to form words are

2. A root is the main part or foundation of a word. In the words arthritis, arthroma, and arthroscope, the
root is

.

Identify the following statements as true or false. If false, rewrite the statement correctly on the
line provided.

3. A combining vowel is usually an e.

True

False

4. A word root links a suffix that begins with a consonant.

True

False

5. A combining form links multiple roots to each other.

True

False

6. A combining form links a suffix that begins with a consonant.

True

False

7.To define a medical word, first define the prefix.

True

False

8. In the term intramuscular, intra is the prefix.

True

False

Underline the word root in each of following combining forms.

9. splen/o (spleen)

10. hyster/o (uterus)

11. enter/o (intestine)

12. neur/o (nerve)

13. ot/o (ear)

14. dermat/o (skin)

15. hydr/o (water)

Check your answers in Appendix A. Review material that you did not answer correctly.

Correct Answers

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8

CHAPTER 1 • Basic Elements of a Medical Word

Learning Activity 1-2

Identifying Word Roots and Combining Forms

Underline the word roots in the following medical words.

Medical Word

Meaning

  1. nephritis
  2. arthrodesis
  3. dermatitis
  4. dentist
  5. gastrectomy
  6. chondritis
  7. hepatoma
  8. muscular
  9. gastria
10. osteoma

inflammation of the kidneys
fixation of a joint
inflammation of the skin
specialist in teeth
excision of the stomach
inflammation of cartilage
tumor of the liver
pertaining to muscles
condition of the stomach
tumor of the bone

Underline the combining forms below.

11. nephr
12. hepat/o
13. arthr
14. oste/o/arthr
15. cholangi/o

kidney
liver
joint
bone, joint
bile vessel

Check your answers in Appendix A. Review material that you did not answer correctly.

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Learning Activities

9

Learning Activity 1-3

Understanding Pronunciations

Review the pronunciation guidelines (located inside the front cover of this book) and then
underline the correct answer in each of the following statements.

1.The diacritical mark ¯ is called a (breve, macron).
2.The diacritical mark ˘ is called a (breve, macron).
3.The ¯ indicates the (short, long) sound of vowels.
4.The ˘ indicates the (short, long) sound of vowels.
5.The combination ch is sometimes pronounced like (k, chiy). Examples are cholesterol, cholemia.

6. When pn is at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced only with the sound of (p, n). Examples are

pneumonia, pneumotoxin.

7.When pn is in middle of a word, the p (is, is not) pronounced. Examples are orthopnea, hyperpnea.
8.When i is at the end of a word, it is pronounced like (eye, ee). Examples are bronchi, fungi, nuclei.
9. For ae and oe, only the (first, second) vowel is pronounced. Examples are bursae, pleurae.

10.When e and es form the final letter or letters of a word, they are commonly pronounced as
(combined, separate) syllables. Examples are syncope, systole, nares.

Check your answers in Appendix A. Review material that you did not answer correctly.

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10

CHAPTER 1 • Basic Elements of a Medical Word

Learning Activity 1-4

Identifying Suffixes and Prefixes

Pronounce the following medical terms. Then analyze each term and write the suffix in the
right-hand column. The first suffix is completed for you.

Term

Suffix

1. thoracotomy
   thōr-ă-KŎT-ō-mē
2. gastroscope
   GĂS-trō-skōp
3. tonsillitis
   tŏn-sĭl-Ī-tĭs
4. gastroma
   GĂS-trō-mă
5. tonsillectomy
   tŏn-sĭl-ĔK-tō-mē

Pronunciation Help

Long Sound
Short Sound

ā — rate
ă — alone

ē — rebirth
ĕ — ever

ī — isle
ĭ — it

ō — over
ŏ — not

ū — unite
ŭ — cut

Pronounce the following medical terms. Then analyze each term and write the element that
is a prefix in the right-hand column. The first prefix is completed for you.

Term

Prefix

 6. anesthesia
    ăn-ĕs-THĒ-zē-ă
 7. hyperthermia
    hī-pĕr-THĔR-mē-ă
 8. intramuscular
    ĭn-tră-MŬS-kū-lăr
 9. paranasal
    păr-ă-NĀ-săl
10. polyuria
    pŏl-ē-Ū-rē-ă

-tomy

an-

Check your answers in Appendix A. Review material that you did not answer correctly.

Correct Answers

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% Score

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Refresh

1

A WR links a suffix that begins with a vowel.

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Learning Activity 1-1

Learning Activity 1-2

Learning Activity 1-3

Learning Activity 1-4

Learning Activity 1-5