This lesson aims at facilitating the understanding of medical terminology in terms of form and

function, it provides with:

Lesson’s objectives:

 the description of medical terminology and its origins

 Introduces the largest used set of medical terms devided out different categories of use
like color, size and form.

Medical Terminology (Introduction)

-Medical terminology is used in the field of medicine.

-Much medical language is anatomical terminology i.e. it concerns itself mainly with the names
of various parts of the body.

-Medical terminology is a language used to describe precisely the human body including all its
components, processes, conditions affecting it, and procedures performed upon it.

Characteristics of medical terminology:

Medical terminology has a quite regular morphology, the same prefixes and suffixes are used
systematically to add meanings to different roots which are derived primarily from Greek and
Latin.

This regular morphological structure is what makes medical terminology predictable and
consistent

An other important feature of medical terminology that its regular morphology offers is that
once a reasonable number of morphemes are learnt ; it becomes easy to understand very precise
terms assembled from these morphemes.
Combination of medical terms :

Medical terminology is morphologically regular made of :Affixation (prefix / suffixe) + Root

Most medical terms (there are other possible forms) come in two formats. The first is the
combining a form of the word root + (optional) combining form of word root + suffix, while
the second applies the prefix + combining form of word root + (optional) combining form of
root word + suffix.

Medical terminology =

Prefix + Root +Suffixe

An organ Tissue Condition

For example, in the disorder known as hypertension, the prefix "hyper-" means "high" or
"over", and the root word "tension" refers to pressure, so the word "hypertension" refers to
abnormally high blood pressure.

The roots, prefixes and suffixes are often derived from Greek or Latin, and often quite
dissimilar (i.e. different) from their English-language variants.

How to learn Medical Terminology?

Learning medical terminology is not impossible and most people use the most effective
memorization techniques. There are various ways of remembering medical terminologies, one
of the most effective is to Learn Latin Roots

The basic components of each term are root word prefixes and suffixes, break a word into its
components understand its meaning. Most of the medical terms come from Latin or Greek.
Most words are just too long and sound too unfamiliar to remember. There is no need to learn
words one by one. Focus only on the common Latin or Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes
instead.

1-Word roots : The root of a term ,are the core components of medical terms, often derived
from Greek or Latin words, refers to an organ, tissue, or the condition being described .

1. For example:
  Cardi/o (root meaning "heart")
 Neur/o (root meaning "nerve")
 Gastr/o (root meaning "stomach")

To easier understand or learn a medical words ,we break it down to its morphemes

2-Affixation

1-Prefixes: These are word elements added to the beginning of a word root to modify or
specify its meaning. Prefixes in medical terminology often indicate location, number, size,
time or quality.

Below is a list of most important ones :

Size and amount:

Macro- : Large ; visible to the naked eye

Micro- : Small ; not visible to the naked eye

Hyper : High ;above normal ;elevated

Hypo : Low ;below normal ;decreased

Eu-/Normo : Normal

Pan-/Omni : All

A-An : Absent or lacking

Megalo : Large or larger than the average

Numerical Prefixes :
Mono : Single ; singular/single

Di :Two ;double

Tri : Three ; triple

Quad : Four ; quadruple

Poly : Many ; a lot

Oligo : Few ; several ; very little

Speed Prefixes
Tachy : Rapid ;fast

Brady-/Brachy : slow

Location Prefixes:
Epi-/Peri-/Circum : Around

Endo-/Intra : Inside ;inner ;interior

Exo-/Extra : Outside ;outer ;exterior

Inter :Between

Trans : Across

Dia-/Per : Through ;complete

Medi(o/a) :Middle

Para : nearby

Juxta : next to ; beside ;adjacent

Prefixes of Movements :
Ab : Away

Ad :Toward

Dis : To separate

Prefixes of Coulour :
Chromo/Chromato :coulour

Leuko :White

Erythro : red

Cyano :Blue

Chloro :Green

Melan :Black

Flav : Yellow
The table below sums them up with examples :

Prefix Meaning Example

A-,an Lack of ,without,not Analgesic :without pain
Dys- Bad,painful, abnormal or Dysrhythmia : abnormal
difficult physiological rhythm
Hyper- Above,excessive,beyond Hypertension :High blood
pressure
Hyp-,hypo Below,beneath,deficient Hypoglycemia :Low blood sugar
Macro- large Macrocephaly :Large head
Micro-,micr- Tiny,small Microcehaly :Small head
Post After,or following,behind Postoperative :After a surgical
operation
Pre, pro In front of,before, preceding Preoperative :Prior to a surgical
operation
Retro Behind, backward Retrocardic :located behind the
heart

These prefixes, when combined with word roots and suffixes, help form specific medical terms
that convey precise meanings related to various body parts, conditions, procedures, and more.

2-Suffixes: These are word elements added to the end of a word root or combining form
Suffixes usually indicate a procedure, condition, disorder or disease.

The following table indicates suffixes, what they mean and the examples :

Suffix Meaning Example

-ac,-ic,-al,-ous,-tic Related to or pertaining to Celiac-relating to the abdomen
 -ent,-er,-ist Person,agent Dentist :person who works on teeth and
gums
-ism Condition or Theory Dysmorphism :Condition of antomical
malformation
-ectomy Excision , removal Tonsillectomy :Surgical removal of tonsils
-plasty Surgical repair Rhinoplasty : Surgical repair of the nose
-itis Inflammation Pancratitis :inflammation of the pancreas
-ologist One who studies, specialist Cardiologist :one who studies the heart
-ology Study of, process of study Oncology :The study of tumors
-oma Tumor Melanoma :Tumor of melanin-forming cells
-pathy Disease,desease process Angiopathy :Disease related to blood vessels
-scopy Process of visual Endoscopy :visual examination within the
examination body
-tomy incision or cutting): gastrotomy (incision into the stomach),
thoracotomy (incision into the chest wall)
-philia Abnormal love of Necrophilia
-phobia Fear of Acrophobia
-tension Pression Hypertension
-xia Oxygen Hypoxia
-capnea Carbon Dioxide Hypercpnea
-pnea Air Apnea(Temporary cessation of breathing)

Understanding these common suffixes and their meanings can help in deciphering and
comprehending complex medical terms, as well as in constructing new terms in a consistent
and systematic manner.

3-Combining form of word root :

Dermat/o meaning : skin

Gastr/o meaning : stomach

Nas/o meaning : nose

 Opt/o meaning : eye

Pneum/o meaning : air,lung

My/o meaning : Muscle

Cardi/o meaning : Heart

Oste/o meaning :

Nephr/o meaning :

Arthr/o meaning : Joint

Mamm/o meaning : Breast

Test/o meaning : Testis

Gluc/o,glyc/o meaning : Sugar

Neur/o meaning : Nerve

In conclusion, This lesson unveiled the importance of mastering medical terminology

while introducing you to the most fundamental word parts and concepts that will empower
your understanding of the widely used medical terms.
Practice:
I /Match the following roots with their meanings.
1. cyan/o _____black

2. erythr/o _____ water

3. leuk/o _____ urine

4. melan/o _____ red

5. chlor/o _____ fat

6. aer/o _____ blue

7. hydr/o _____ pus

8. lip/o _____ white

9. py/o _____ air, gas

10. ur/o _____ green

II/Locate the root word in the following medical terms and then write down
what you think their meaning might be
Term Root Meaning

Psychology ------------------- -------------------------------------

synthesis ------------------- -------------------------------------

cardiac ------------------- -------------------------------------

electrocardiography ------------------- -------------------------------------

gastric ------------------- -------------------------------------

dermatitis ------------------- -------------------------------------

dermatoplasty ------------------- -------------------------------------

angiography ------------------- -------------------------------------

onychotomy ------------------- -------------------------------------

III/ Match the following suffixes to the roots provided to make medical terms. Write
down their meaning as well.

-ectomy, -gram, -graph, -graphy, -meter, -plasty

-scope, -scopy, -tomy , -metry,

 Rooy, Medical Term Definition
oste/o
rhino,
dia,
angio,
phyc/o,
photo,
trache/o,
gestr/o ,
sinus/o,
References :

- Dudley-Evans,T.and St Johns,M.J (1998) Developments in ESP a Multi-Disciplinary

Approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

- Choudhary Zahid Javid (2013) ENGLISH FOR MEDICINE (Part One) An Intermediate
ESP Course for Students of Medicine : Department of Foreign Languages,College of Arts,
Taif University

- Dr. Choudhary Zahid Javid (2013) ENGLISH FOR MEDICINE Part Two An Intermediate
ESP Course for Students of Medicine :Department of Foreign Languages,College of Arts,
Taif University

- Fitri Kurniawan,M.Res (2018) A MODULE ENGLISH FOR HEALTH.,Ed PROGRAM

STUDI NERSSTIKES ‘AISYIYAH SURAKARTA

- Belmerdaci .Y and Tobbi .S (2019) Teaching and Learning English for General Business
Purposes in Algeria: An Observational Study Social and Human Sciences Review, Batna 1
university Volume: 19 N 39 (December, 2018) pp363-376

-https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/health-sciences/blog/medical-terminology-infographic/