Medical Prefixes and Suffixes Medical words like most

Medical Prefixes and Suffixes

� Medical words like most English words are from Latin or Greek.

� � 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) Leuko- (white Blood cell) Ortho- (make straight) Gastroenteritis , gastrectomy, gastritis Leukemia, leukocyte (white blood cell) 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) -rrhea (discharge) -scopy -septic (with infectious origin) Hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage顱內出血 Amenorrhea停經, diarrhea, rhinorrhea(nose+…) Gastroscopy, colonscopy, retinoscopy, endoscopy Septicemia敗血, aseptic

Disease Roots I Angio- (blood vessel) Angiomyolipoma, angiography Dermatitis, derma真皮, dermatology Dermo. Enter-, entero. Enteritis (intestine 腸) Hepat-, hepato- (liver Hepatitis, hepatoma, 肝) hepatic (a. ) 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 � � � � 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, backward rearrange, rebuild, recall, remake, rerun, rewrite sub- under submarine, subway, subhuman, substandard trans- across, beyond, through, change transatlantic, transcend, 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 � � http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_medic al_roots, _suffixes_and_prefixes http: //www. merriamwebster. com/medical/

Words to Memorize � � � � � 1. cardiovascular 2. gastroenteritis 3. osteoporosis 4. anemia 5. dyspepsia 6. hematuria 7. diarrhea 8. angiomyolipoma 9. dermatology 10. menopause � � � � � 11. pneumonia 12. vagina 13. postpartum 14. premature 15. pediatrician 16. philanthropy 17. hypertension 18. hypothermia 19. neonatal 20. pandemic