Understand the difference between a prefix and a suffix. Differentiate prefixes that deal with body parts, color, and direction. Distinguish suffixes that deal with procedures.

Prefixes

Prefixes are located at the beginning of a medical term. The prefix alters the meaning of the medical term. It is important to spell and pronounce prefixes correctly.

Many prefixes that you find in medical terms are common to English language prefixes. A good technique to help with memorization is the following:

Start by reviewing the most common prefixes. Consider common English language words that begin with the same prefixes. Compare them to the examples of use in medical terms.

Common Prefixes

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS A-, An- Without; Lacking Anemia Andr/o- Male Androgen  Anti-  Against Anticholinergic drugs Auto- Self Autocrine Bio-  Life  Biology  Chem/o- Chemistry Chemotherapy Contra- Against Contraception Cyt/o- Cell  Cytokine  Dis- Separation; Taking apart Dissection Dys- Difficult; Abnormal Dyspnea Eu- Good; Well Eupnea Fibr/o- Fiber Fibrosis Gluco-, Glyco- Glucose; Sugar Glycogen Gyn/o-, Gynec- Female Gynecology Hydr/o- Water Hydrocephalus Idio- Self; One’s own Idiopathic Lyso-, Lys- Break down; Destruction; Dissolving Lysosome Mal- Bad; Abnormal Malignant Myc/o- Fungus Mycetoma Necr/o- Death Necrosis Neo- New Neonate Oxy- Sharp; Acute; Oxygen Oxytocin Pan-, Pant/o- All or everywhere Pancytopenia Pharmaco- Drug; Medicine Pharmacist Re- Again; Backward Rejuvenation Somat/o-, Somatico- Body; Bodily Somatic cell

Body Part Prefixes

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS Acous/o- Hearing Acoustic meatus Aden/o- Gland Adenoid Adip/o- Fat Adipocyte Adren/o- Gland Adrenal cortex Angi/o- Blood vessel Angioplasty Arteri/o- Artery Arteriole Arthr/o- Joint Arthroplasty Bucc/o- Cheek Buccal cavity Bronch/i- Bronchus Bronchioles Burs/o- Bursa Bursa Carcin/o- Cancer Basal cell carcinoma Cardi/o- Heart Cardiology Cephal/o- Head Cephalic flexure Chol- Bile Cholesterol Chondri- Cartilage Chondrosarcoma Coron- Heart Coronary arteries Cost- Rib Costal cartilage Crani/o- Brain Cranium Cutane- Skin Cutaneous Cyst/o-, Cysti- Bladder or sac Cystoscopy Derm-, Dermat/o- Skin Dermatologist Duoden/o- Duodenum Duodenitis Gastr- Stomach Gastrectomy Gloss- Tongue Glossectomy Hem-, Hema-, Hemat-, Hemo-, Hemat/o- Blood Hematopoiesis Hepat/o-, Hepatico- Liver Hepatic portal system Hist/o-, Histio- Tissue Histology Hyster/o- Uterus Hysterectomy Ileo- Ileum Ileostomy Ischi/o- Ischium Ischial tuberosity Kerat/o- Cornea (eye or skin) Keratin Lacrim/o- Tear (from your eyes) Lacrimal fluid Lact/o-, Lacti- Milk Lactose Laryng/o- Larynx Laryngitis Lingu/o- Tongue Lingual tonsil Lip/o- Fat Lipolysis Lymph/o- Lymph Lymphocyte Mamm-, Mast/o- Breast Mammary glands Mening/o- Meninges Meningitis Muscul/o- Muscle Musculoskeletal My/o- Muscle Myocardium Myel/o- Spinal cord or bone marrow Myelin Nephr/o- Kidney Nephron Neur/i-, Neur/o- Nerve Neuron Oculo- Eye Oculomotor nerve Onco- Tumor; Bulk; Volume Oncogene Onych/o- Fingernail; Toenail Onychodystrophy Oo- Egg; Ovary Oocyte Oophor/o- Ovary Oophorectomy Op-, Opt- Vision Optic nerve Ophthalm/o- Eye Ophthalmic artery Orchid/o-, Orchio- Testis Orchidectomy Orth/o- Straight; Normal; Correct Orthostatic Osseo- Bony Osseous tissue Ossi- Bone Ossicles Ost-, Oste/o- Bone Osteoporosis Ot/o- Ear Otolaryngologist Ovar/i-, Ovario-, Ovi-, Ovo- Ovary Ovarian follicle Phalang- Phalanx Phalanges Pharyng/o- Pharynx; Throat Pharyngeal tonsil Phleb/o- Vein Phlebotomist Phren/i-, Phreno-, Phrenico- Diaphragm Phrenic nerve Pleur-, Pleur/a-, Pleur/o- Rib, pleura Pleural cavity Pneum/a- Pneumat/o- Air; Lung Pneumonia Proct/o- Anus; Rectum Proctoscopy Prostat- Prostate Prostatectomy Pseudo- False Pseudostratified Psych/o-, Psyche- Mind Psychiatrist Radio- Radiation; Radius Radioisotopes Ren/o- Kidney Renal cortex Retin- Retina (of the eye) Retinitis pigmentosa Rhin/o- Nose Rhinoscope Salping/o- Tube Salpingo-oophorectomy Sarco- Muscular; Flesh-like Sarcomere Schiz/o- Split; Cleft Schizophrenia Sclera-, Sclero- Hardness Sclerosis Sigmoid/o- Sigmoid colon Sigmoidoscopy Sperma-, Spermo-, Spermato- Sperm Spermatocyte Splen/o- Spleen Splenomegaly Sten/o- Narrowed; Blocked Stenosis Stern- Sternum Sternoclavicular joint Stom/a-, Stomat/o- Mouth Stomatitis Thorac/o-, Thoracico- Chest Thoracic cavity Thromb/o- Blood clot Thrombolytic Thyr/o- Thyroid gland Thyroiditis Trache/o- Trachea Trachealis Tympan/o- Eardrum Tympanic membrane Ur/o- Urine Urologist Vagin- Vagina Vaginal Varic/o- Duct; Blood vessel Varicose veins Vasculo- Blood vessel Vasculitis Ven/o- Vein Venae cavae Vertbr- Vertebra; Spine Vertebral column

Color Prefixes

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS Chlor/o- Green Chlorophyll Chrom-, Chromato- Color Chromosome Cyano- Blue Cyanosis Erythr/o- Red Erythrocyte Leuk/o- White Leukocyte Melan/o- Black Melanin

Physical Property and Shape Prefixes

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS Cry/o- Cold Cryotherapy Elect- Electrical activity Electrocardiogram Kin/o-, Kine-, Kinesi/o- Movement Kinetic energy Kyphy/o- Humped Kyphosis Rhabd/o- Rod-shaped; Striated Rhabdomyosarcoma Phot/o- Light Photoreceptor Reticul/o- Net Reticulocytes Scoli/o- Twisted Scoliosis Therm/o- Heat Thermotherapy

Direction and Position Prefixes

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS Ab-, Abs- Away from Abductor Ad- Towards Adductor Ante- Before; Forward Antenatal Circum- Around Circumcision Cycl- Circle; Cycle Cyclic neutropenia De- Away from; Ending Dehydration Dia- Across; Through Diagnosis Ect/o-, Exo- Outer; Outside Exocrine gland End/o-, Ent-, Enter/o- Within; Inner Endocrine gland Epi- Upon; Outside of Epidermis Ex-, Extra- Beyond Expiration Infra- Beneath; Below Infratemporal fossa Inter- Between Interstitial fluid Intra- Within Intracellular fluid Meso- Middle Mesoderm Meta- Beyond; Change Metabolism Para- Alongside; Abnormal Parathyroid glands Path/o- Disease Pathologist Peri- Around Pericardium Post- Behind; After Postpartum Pre- Before; In front Precancerous Retro- Backward; Behind Retroperitoneum Sub- Under Subcutaneous layer Super- Above Superior Supra- Above; Upon Supraglottis Sy-, Syl-, Sym-, Syn-, Sys- Together Syndrome Trans- Across; Through Transdermal

Quantity Prefixes

PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS Bi- Two Biceps Brady- Slow Bradycardia Diplo- Double Diploid Hemi- Half Hemihypertrophy Hetero- Other; Different Heterogeneous Homo- Same Homozygous genotype Hyper- Above; Beyond; Excessive Hypertension Hypo- Under; Deficient Hypotension Iso- Equal; Like Isointense Macro- Large; Long; Big Macrophage Mic-, Micro- Small Microglia Mon-, Mono- One Monocyte Olig/o- Few; Little Oliguria Poly- Many; Excessive Polyuria Quadri- Four Quadriceps Semi- Half Semilunar valves Tachy- Fast Tachycardia Tetra- Four Tetralogy of Fallot Tri- Three Triceps Uni- One Unicellular Do you know the difference between the prefixes inter-, infra-, and intra-? What color is an erythrocyte? A leukocyte? Which prefixes could you use to indicate something is: around something else? within something else? below something else?

Suffixes

Suffixes are word parts that are located at the end of words. Suffixes can alter the meaning of medical terms. It is important to spell and pronounce suffixes correctly.

Suffixes in medical terms are common to English language suffixes. Suffixes are not always explicitly stated in the definition of a word. It is common that suffixes will not be explicitly stated when defining a medical term in the workplace. However, when transcribing or reading medical reports the suffix is always clearly written. In order to properly spell and pronounce medical terms, it is helpful to learn the suffixes.

Common Suffixes

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS -ac Pertaining to Cardiac -blast, -blasto, -blastic Bud; Germ Myeloblast -cyte, -cytic Cell Thrombocyte -dynia Pain; Swelling Thoracodynia -eal, -ial Pertaining to Esophageal -ectasis Expansion; Dilation Atelectasis -emia Blood condition Anemia -ia Condition Hemophilia -iasis Condition; Formation of Psoriasis -ism Condition Hypothyroidism -ites, -itis Inflammation Arthritis -ity Pertaining to Immunity -ium Structure or tissue Epithelium -lysis, -lytic Break down; Destruction; Dissolving Osteolytic -malacia Softening Osteomalacia -megaly Enlargement Acromegaly -oid Resembling Arachnoid trabeculae -oma Tumor Angiosarcoma -osis Condition; Usually abnormal Endometriosis -ous Pertaining to Aqueous -pathy Disease Lymphadenopathy -penia Deficiency; Lack of Thrombocytopenia -phagia, -phagy Eating; Swallowing Dysphagia -phasia Speech Aphasia -plasia, -plastic Growth Hyperplasia -plegia Paralysis Hemiplegia -pnea Breathing Sleep apnea -poiesis Production Hemopoiesis -ptosis Falling; Drooping Apoptosis -rrhage, -rrhagic Bleeding Hemorrhage -rrhea Flow or discharge Diarrhea -sclerosis Hardening Arteriosclerosis -sis Condition Agranulocytosis -stasis Level; Unchanging Homeostasis -trophy Growth Hypertrophy -uria In the urine Anuria

Procedure Suffixes

SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS -centesis Surgical puncture to remove fluid Thoracentesis -desis Surgical binding Pleurodesis -ectomy Cut out; Removal Mastectomy -gram Record; Picture Electrocardiogram -graph Instrument used to create a record or picture Electrocardiograph -graphy To record or take a picture Echocardiography -meter Device used for measuring Sphygmomanometer -opsy Visual examination Biopsy -ostomy Opening Colostomy -otomy Incision Laparotomy -pexy Surgical fixation Oophoropexy -plasty Surgical reconstruction Vertebroplasty -scope For examining Endoscope -scopy Examine Endoscopy Do you know the difference between the suffixes -gram, -graph, and -graphy? Which suffixes denote a condition or disease?

Word parts and definitions from “Appendix A: Word Parts and What They Mean” by MedlinePlus and is under public domain.

Definitions of medical term examples from:

Anatomy and Physiology (on OpenStax), by Betts et al. and is used under a CC BY 4.0 international license. Download and access this book for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction Concepts of Biology (on OpenStax), by Fowler et al. and is used under a CC BY 4.0 international license. Download and access this book for free at https://openstax.org/books/concepts-biology/pages/1-introduction NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms by the National Cancer Institute and is used under public domain.

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