Lec 1 m Teminology

College of Pharmacy
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First Year. Medical terminology 2019-2020
Introduction to Medical Terminology

1-Medical terminology is a special words used by health care professionals for
effective and accurate communication (1).
2- While medical terminology has been influenced by many languages, the majority
of terms used are derived from Greek and Latin (2).
3-Most of the terms commonly used to describe the clinical observation and
treatment of patients derive from Greek, while those terms used to describe anatomy
derive most often from Latin.
4-The reasons for these derivations are historical (2):

A-Ancient Greece produced medical scientists (e.g., Hippocrates and Galen).
When Greek influence declined across the ancient world, many Greeks migrated to
Rome where the Latin language predominated. As part of this migration, they
brought with them the language they used to describe medicine (2).
B-For most of the following centuries, many medical textbooks were written in
Latin but included Greek words that described medical terms. One such
textbook authored by Andreas Vesalius, written 1543, described human
anatomy and was used for centuries until the middle of the 18th century (2).
5-Because of the way medical terminology developed over time, some terms have
more than one word root. For example, one word root for the term kidney is nephr
from the Greek language, while a second word root for kidney is ren from the Latin
language (2).
6-Sometimes, medical terms can be confusing. This confusion is often the result of
using eponyms, homonyms, and synonyms:
A-Eponyms are proper names given to a body part, disease, instrument, procedure, or
technique based on the name of the person who discovered or perfected it (2).
Eponyms Meaning
1 Parkinson’s disease Disorder of the motor system
2 Down’s syndrome Genetic birth defect causing mental retardation
B-Homonyms are words with the same or nearly the same sound but different
meanings (2).
Homonym with Meaning Homonym with Meaning

1 Anuresis – lack of urine; inability to urinate Enuresis – bed-wetting
2 Aural – pertaining to hearing Oral – pertaining to the mouth
1
B-Synonyms are words that have the same or nearly the same meaning as another
word but are spelled differently. They are considered alternate words with the same
meaning (2).
Synonym Meaning
1 Hypodermic, subcutaneous under the skin
Medical term parts (The Four Types of Word Parts)

1-The four types of word parts used to create medical terms are: word roots,
combining forms, suffixes, and prefixes (3).
2-The fundamental unit of each Table 1: Common word roots and meanings (2).
medical word is the root. This Word Root Meaning
establishes the basic meaning of 1 arthr/o joint
the word (3). 2 card/i/o heart
3 derm/o/ato skin
The Greek word kardia, for 4 hem/a/ato blood
example, meaning “heart,” gives 5 muscul/o muscle
us the root cardi. The Latin word 6 natal birth; born
pulmo, meaning “lung,” gives us 7 neur/o nerve
the root pulm. In a few instances, 8 os/teo bone
both the Greek and Latin roots are 9 path/o disease
used. We find both the Greek root 10 ped/ia child
nephr and the Latin root ren used 11 psych/o mind
in words pertaining to the kidney
(1)
.
3-Combining forms (Compound words) contain more than one root (1). When more
than one root word is used, it requires the use of a combining vowel [Usually an “o”
and occasionally an “i”] to separate the words, even if the root word begins with a
vowel (2).
Example of compound medical words is cardiovascular (pertaining to the heart and
blood vessels) (1).
4-A suffix is a short word part or series of parts added at the end of a root to modify
its meaning (1). For example, the suffix -itis means inflammation (3).
(gastritis: inflammation of the stomach)
5-A prefix is a short word part added before a root to modify its meaning (1). A prefix
usually, but not always, indicates location, time, number, or status (3).
For example, hyper- means excessive or increased (3). (Hypertension is higher-than-
normal blood pressure) (3).
6- When a suffix beginning with a consonant is added to a root, a vowel (usually an o)

is inserted between the root and the suffix to aid in pronunciation (1).
2
7-Thus, when the suffix -logy, meaning
“study of,” is added to the root neur,
meaning “nerve or nervous system,” a
combining vowel is added:
neur + o + logy = neurology (study of the
nervous system) (1).
8-A combining vowel usually is not used if

the ending begins with a vowel.
The root neur is combined with the suffix -itis, meaning “inflammation of,” in this
way:
neur + itis = neuritis (inflammation of a nerve) (1).
9-Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils (tonsill means tonsils, and -itis means
inflammation).
A tonsillectomy is the surgical removal of the tonsils (tonsill means tonsils, and –
ectomy means surgical removal) (3).
10-Confusing those two prefixes creates errors. Two other similar-sounding

prefix pairs prone to creating errors are ante- and anti-. The prefix ante means
“before,” and the prefix anti- means “against.” (4).
Term (4) Part (4) Meaning (4)

Hypoglycemia prefix: hypo- = low low blood sugar
root: glyc/o- = sugar
suffix: -emia = condition
Anticoagulant prefix: anti- = against preventing coagulation
root: coagulant = substance that (clotting)
causes blood to clot
Table -2 Word Roots and Combining Forms for Body Parts (2)
3
Common prefixes
Dividing prefixes into functional categories makes them easier to learn. There are five
logical divisions (2):
1-Prefixes of time or speed
2-Prefixes of position
3-Prefixes of size or number
4-Prefixes for color
4
5- Prefixes for direction
6-Prefixes of negation
1-Prefixes of time or speed

Prefixes denoting time or speed are used in everyday English. Prefixes denoting speed,
such as tachy- (fast) and brady- (slow), are often used to describe heart rate. Table 3
lists prefixes related to time or speed (4).
Table 3: Prefixes of time or speed (1, 4).

Prefix Refers to Example Meaning
ante-, pre- before Antenatal before birth
brady- abnormally slow Bradycardia abnormally slow

rate of speed heartbeat
post- after Postpartum After birth
tachy - abnormally fast rate Tachycardia abnormally fast
of speed heartbeat
2-Prefixes of position
Prefixes of position are commonly used during diagnostic and treatment procedures.
Table -4 lists prefixes relating to position (4).
Table 4: Prefixes of position (1-5).

ec-, outside Ectopic Located away from normal position.
ecto-, (e.g., ectopic pregnancy)
ex-, Exogenous Originating outside or caused by
exo- factors outside the organism
endo- within Endoscope Device for viewing the inside of a
cavity or organ
epi- upon, over Epigastric The upper and middle region of the
abdomen
extra- Outside Extracellular Outside the cell
infra- below, under Infrasternal Beneath the sternum
(sub)
intra- Inside Intracellular Inside a cell
inter- between Intercostal Between ribs
para- involvement of two like Parathyroid Gland located near the thyroid gland
parts; also denoting gland
adjacent, alongside, near);
peri- around, surrounding Pericardium Around the heart
sub- under, near Subcutaneous Under the skin
trans- across, through Transvaginal Through the vagina
5
3-Prefixes of size or number
Prefixes of size and number are very common. Table -5 lists prefixes related to size and
number (4).
Table -5: Prefixes of size and number (1-5).

bi- two Bilateral Pertaining to two sides
di-, dipl- Two, twice Diplopia double vision
hemi- Half Hemiplegia paralysis of one body side
macro- Big Macrocyte big cell
micro- Small Microscope instrument to view small objects
mono- One Monocyte cell with one nucleus
multi- Many (more Multicellular composed of many cells
than one)
olig-, oligo - a few, a little Oliguria scant urine production
pan- All or everywhere Pancarditis whole heart inflammation
poly- Many Polyuria Excessive urine
quadri- Four Quadriplegia paralysis of all four limbs
tetra- Four Tetracycline Contain four rings (an antibiotic)
Tri- Three Tricuspid having three points or cusps, as a
valve of the heart
uni- One Unilateral affecting only one side
References:
1-Barbara Jonson. Medical Terminology: An Illustrated Guide. Fourth edition
2-Nanna Cross and Dana McWay. Stanfield’s Essential Medical Terminology. Fifth
Edition. Copyright © 2020 by Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC, an Ascend Learning
Company.
3-Ann Ehrlich and Carol L. Schroeder. Medical terminology for health professions.
Seventh Edition. 2013.
4-Judi L. Nath and Kelsey P. Lindsley. A short course in medical terminology .Fourth
edition. Copyright © 2019 Wolters Kluwer
5-Jane Rice. Medical terminology for health care professionals. 9th edition. Copyright
© 2018.

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College of Pharmacy

Introduction to Medical Terminology

4-The reasons for these derivations are historical (2):

Homonym with Meaning Homonym with Meaning

Medical term parts (The Four Types of Word Parts)

6- When a suffix beginning with a consonant is added to a root, a vowel (usually an o)

8-A combining vowel usually is not used if

10-Confusing those two prefixes creates errors. Two other similar-sounding

Term (4) Part (4) Meaning (4)

1-Prefixes of time or speed

Table 3: Prefixes of time or speed (1, 4).

brady- abnormally slow Bradycardia abnormally slow

Table 4: Prefixes of position (1-5).

Prefix Refers to Example Meaning

Table -5: Prefixes of size and number (1-5).

Prefix Refers to Example Meaning

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