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) Gastroenteritis , gastrectomy, gastritis Leuko- (white Blood cell) Leukemia, leukocyte (white blood cell) Ortho- (make straight) 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) Hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage顱內出血 -rrhea (discharge) Amenorrhea停經, diarrhea, rhinorrhea(nose+…) -scopy Gastroscopy, colonscopy, retinoscopy, endoscopy -septic (with Septicemia敗血, aseptic infectious origin) Disease Roots I Angio- (blood vessel) Angiomyolipoma, angioma, angiography DermDermatitis, derma真皮, dermatology DermoEnter-, enteroEnteritis (intestine 腸) Hepat-, hepato- (liver Hepatitis, hepatoma, hepatic (a.) 肝) 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- deactivate, debone, defrost, deplane dis- away, off; generally indicates reversal or removal in English not, not any inter- between, among international, internet intercontinental non- not nonessential, nonresident, nonviolent, nonstop disbelief, discomfort, disrespect Latin Prefix Basic Meaning Examples post- after postwar, postnatal, postseason, postpartum pre- before premature, preexist, prenatal, prepay re- again, back, backward rearrange, rebuild, recall, remake, rerun, rewrite sub- under submarine, subway, subhuman, substandard trans- across, beyond, through, transatlantic, transcend, change 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
