Medical Terminology Prefix-Suffix
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151 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 acanth- | thorn, spine |
| alg- | pain |
| alges- | sensitivity to pain |
| all- | other, divergence, difference from |
| angi- | (blood) vessel, duct |
| arteri- | [air passage] artery |
| arthr- | joint |
| bi- | life |
| brady- | slow |
| cardi- | heart |
| cephal- | head |
| crani- | skull |
| cyt- | [hollow container] cell |
| encephal- | brain |
| erythr- | red, red blood cell |
| lept- | thin, fine, slight |
| leuk- | white, white blood cell |
| lith- | stone, calculus |
| log- | word, study |
| malac- | soft |
| mes- | middle, secondary, partial, mesentery |
| -meter, metr- | measure, measuring device |
| nephr- | kidney |
| oste- | bone |
| prosop- | face |
| prot- | first, primitive, early |
| scler- | hard |
| sten- | narrow |
| stere- | solid, having three dimensions |
| tachy- | rapid |
| tox(i)- | poison |
| -logy | study, science, study or science of |
| -logist | one who specializes in a certain study or science |
| -malacia | softening (of tissues) of |
| -sclerosis | hardening (of tissues) of |
| -stenosis | narrowing (of part of the body) |
| -toxic | poisonous (to an organ) |
| -toxin | a poisonous substance to (a part of the body) |
| acr- | [highest point], extremities (particularly the hands and feet) |
| ambly- | dull, faint |
| carcin- | [crab] carcinoma, cancer |
| -cel- | hernia, tumor, swelling |
| cheir-, chir- | hand |
| chol(e)- | bile, gall |
| col(i)-. colon- | colon |
| cyan- | blue |
| cyst(i)-, -cystis | bladder, cyst |
| diplo- | double, twin |
| enter- | (small) intestine |
| erg- | action, work |
| gastr- | stomach |
| hem-, hemat-, -em- | blood |
| hepar-, hepat- | liver |
| lip- | fat |
| macr- | (abnormally) large or long |
| mega-, megal- | (abnormally) large or long |
| melan- | dark, black |
| micr- | (abnormally) small |
| nyct- | night |
| odyn- | pain |
| onc- | tumor |
| pachy- | thick |
| pseud- | false |
| py- | pus |
| sarc- | flesh, soft tissue |
| spasm- | spasm, involuntary muscular contraction |
| splen- | spleen |
| stom-, stomat- | mouth, opening |
| arachn- | spider, web; arachnoid membrane |
| chlor- | green |
| chondr- | cartilage |
| dactyl- | finger, toe |
| derm(at)-, -derma | skin |
| (h)elc- | ulcer |
| hidr(ot)-, -idr- | sweat |
| hist(i) | [web] tissue |
| hydr- | water, fluid |
| hypn- | sleep |
| icter- | jaundice |
| in-, inos- | fiber, muscle |
| is- | equal, same, similar, alike |
| mening-, -meninx | meningeal membrane, meninges |
| my(s)- | [mouse] muscle |
| myc(et)- | [mushroom] fungus |
| myel- | bone marrow, spinal cord |
| narc- | stupor, numbness |
| necr- | corpse, dead |
| olig- | few, deficient |
| onych- | fingernail, toenail |
| pod- | foot |
| poli- | gray matter of the brain and spinal cord |
| poly- | many, excessive |
| por- | passage, opening, duct, pore, cavity |
| psych- | mind, soul |
| som(at)-, -soma | body |
| sthen- | strength |
| trachel- | neck, cervix |
| xanth- | yellow |
| aut- | Self |
| crin- | [separate] secrete, secretion |
| esthe(s)- | sensation, sensitivity, sense |
| gen(e)-, -gen | come into being; produce |
| gram- | [something written] a record |
| graph- | write, record |
| iatr- | healer, physician; treatment |
| idi- | of one's self |
| kine- | move |
| kines(i)- | movement, motion |
| ly(s)- | destroy, break down |
| myx- | mucus |
| orth- | straight, erect; normal |
| ot- | ear |
| path- | [suffering] disease |
| phil- | love; have an affinity for |
| pt- | fall, sag, drop, prolapse |
| pyr- | [fire] fever, burning |
| pyret- | fever |
| pyrex- | be feverish |
| rhe- | [run] flow, secrete |
| rhag- | [burst forth] flow profusely, hemorrhage |
| rhex- | rupture |
| rhin- | nose |
| scop- | look at, examine |
| sep- | [be putrid] be infected |
| ta- | stretching |
| tel- | end, completion |
| ten-, tenon(t)- | tendon |
| therap(eu)- | treat medically, heal |
| tom- | a cutting, slice, incision |
| ton- | [a stretching] (muscular) tone, tension |
| -ectasia, -ectasis | dilation, enlargement |
| -ectomy | surgical excision; removal of all (total excision) or part (partial excision) of an organ |
| -gen | substance that produces (something) |
| -genesis | formation, origin |
| -genic | causing, producing, produced |
| -genous | by, produced by or in |
| -gram | a record of the activity of an organ (often in x-ray) |
| -graph | an innstrument used for recording the activity of an organ |
| -graphy | (1) the recording of the activity of an organ (usually by x-ray examination) (2) a descriptive treatise (on a subject) |
| -lysis | dissolution, reduction, decomposition, disintegration |
| -lytic | pertaining to dissolution or decomposition, disintegration (forms adjectives from words ending in -lysis |
| -pathy | disease |
| -ptosis | drooping, sagging, prolapse (of an organ or part) |
| -rrhagia | profuse discharge, hemorrhage |
| -rrhea | profuse discharge, excessive secretion |
| -rrhexis | bursting (of tissues), rupture |
| -scope | instrument for examining |
| -scopy | examination |
| -tome | a surgical instrument for cutting |
| -tomy | surgical incision |
| neur- | nervous tissue, nervous system |
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