INTRODUCTION TO

MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY
Introduction

▪ medicine has a “language” of its own – medical

terminology
▪ the foundation for studying any health-related field
▪ crucial for accurate communication among health
professionals
▪ most medical terms are based on either Greek or
Latin words (75%)
e.g. cardiology – cardi, Greek for heart
Introduction

Greek word
kardia heart
- cardiology – ...................................
gaster - gastritis- stomach
...................................
hepat - hepatitis - liver
...................................
kidney
nephros - nephrology - ...................................
bone
osteon - osteology - ...................................

3
Introduction

• medical terminology is complex

• rules to facilitate learning
• most medical terms can be broken down into
component parts:

cardi/o/logy
when learning medical words - focus on their
COMPONENT PARTS or ELEMENTS 4
BASIC ELEMENTS OF A
MEDICAL TERM
Basic Elements of a Medical Term

- understand how to divide

words into component parts or
elements

- understand how word

elements work together and
how they are combined to
form medical terms
defining medical terms is like a
“jigsaw puzzle 6
Basic Elements of a Medical Term

4 ELEMENTS OF A MEDICAL WORD:

- how you combine
1) WORD ROOT : CARDI/O/LOGY these elements, and
whether all or some of
2) COMBINING FORM: CARDI/O/LOGY them are present in a
medical term,
3) SUFFIX: CARDI/O/LOGY determines the
meaning of a word
4) PREFIX: TACHY/CARDIA

7
Word Root

• THE FOUNDATION, THE MAIN PART of the medical term

• the basic, essential meaning of the term– tells us what
we’re dealing with
• most are derived from Greek or Latin (two different roots
may have the same meaning)
Greek Latin Meaning

dermat cutane = skin (dermatology, cutaneous)

nephr ren = kidney (nephrology, renal)
stomat or = mouth (stomatology, oral)

8
Word Root

• frequently indicates A BODY PART:

WORD ROOT MEANING

cardiology heart
gastric stomach
arthritis joint
hepatitis liver
cytology cell
nephrology kidney
osteopathy bone
cerebral brain
thoracic chest
9
Word Root

• all medical terms contain at least ONE word root (can

contain more):
e.g.
GASTRITIS (gastr – stomach) inflammation of the stomach

HEMATOLOGY (hemat – blood) the study of the blood

OSTEOARTHRITIS (oste – bone, arthr – joint) inflammation of the bones and

joints

ELECTROCARDIOGRAM record of the electricity in the heart

(electr – electricity, cardi – heart)

10
Word Root

REMEMBER!

BY UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF A WORD ROOT, ONE CAN

DETERMINE WHAT THE MEDICAL TERM MEANS

11
Combining Form

• combination of a WORD ROOT and a VOWEL („combining vowel”)

• usually an “o”
• the combining form is the basic foundation to which other word
elements are added to build a complete medical word

word root vowel combining form

cardi + o = cardi/o

gastr + o = gastr/o
12
 Combining Form

Word Root + Combining = Combining Meaning

Vowel Form

cardi o cardi/o heart

gastr o gastr/o stomach
arthr o arthr/o joint
hepat o hepat/o liver
oste o oste/o bone
cyt o cyt/o cell
nephr o nephr/o kidney
cerebr o cerebr/o brain
electr o electr/o electricity
hemat o hemat/o blood
neur o neur/o nerve 13
Combining Form

• links the:
a) word root to a suffix
e.g. HEPATOLOGY hepat/o/ logy
word root combining suffix
vowel

• b) word root to another root

e.g. OSTEOARTHRITIS oste/o/ arthr/ itis

word root combining word root suffix 14

vowel
What are the combining forms for these words:

1. electricity electr/o 7. bone oste/o

2. stomach gastr/o 8. cell cyt/o
3. chest thorac/o 9. kidney nephr/o
4. joint arthr/o 10.nerve neur/o
5. liver hepat/o 11.brain cerebr/o
6. heart cardi/o 12.blood hemat/o

15
Guess the meaning of the following CFs:

1) aden/o a) kidney
2) cephal/o b) intestine
3) encephal/o c) skin
4) derm/o or dermat/o d) brain
5) enter/o e) white
6) erythr/o f) gland
7) leuk/o g) red
8) ren/o h) head

16
Guess the meaning of the following CFs:

1. aden/o - gland
2. cephal/o - head
3. encephal/o - brain
4. derm/o or dermat/o - skin
5. enter/o - intestine
6. erythr/o - red
7. leuk/o - white
8. ren/o - kidney

17
Suffix

• A WORD ENDING – follows a word root or combining form

• by adding/changing the suffix - we create different meanings

gastr -itis gastritis

(stomach) (inflammation) (inflammation of the
stomach)

18
Suffix

• usually describes a procedure, condition, disease or disorder, or part

of speech
e.g.
- oma = tumor, mass gastroma = tumor of the
stomach
- tomy = cutting, incision gastrotomy = cutting into the
stomach
- megaly = enlargement gastromegaly = enlargement of
the stomach

19
Suffix

e.g.
- cyte = cell hepatocyte = the cell of the
tissue of the liver
- logy = the study of hepatology = the study of the
liver
- megaly = enlargement hepatomegaly = enlargement of
the liver

20
Suffix

SPELLING RULES
1) if a suffix begins with a consonant (p,t,k, etc.)- a combining vowel is used between a
word root and a suffix
WORD ROOT COMBINING VOWEL SUFFIX MEDICAL TERM
HEPAT /O/ MEGALY HEPATOMEGALY
(liver) (enlargement) (enlargement of the liver)

2) if a suffix begins with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) - a combining vowel is NOT used between
the word root and the suffix
WORD ROOT COMBINING VOWEL SUFFIX MEDICAL TERM
HEPAT - ITIS HEPATITIS
(liver) (inflammation) (inflammation of the liver)
21
Write the suffix for the definition:

1. enlargement -megaly
tomy
1. cutting into the chest – thoraco______
-oma
2. tumor 2. inflammation of the kidney –
-itis itis
nephr_________
3. inflammation
-logy oma
3. tumor of the liver – hepat________
4. the study of
-cyte
5. cell
-tomy
6. cutting into -gram
7. record
22
Prefix

• attached to THE BEGINNING OF A WORD

• adding or changing the prefix - we change the meaning
of the word

23
Prefix

• a prefix usually indicates a number, time, position, direction or negation

PREFIX WORD SUFFIX MEDICAL WORD MEANING

ROOT
epi- gastr -ic epigastric pertaining to the area above the
(above) (stomach) (pertaining stomach
to)
intra- muscul -ar intramuscular within the muscle
(in, within) (muscle) (pertaining
to)
hyper- therm -ia hyperthermia condition of excessive heat
(excessive) (heat) (condition)

micro- card -ia microcardia condition of a small heart

(small) (heart) (condition)

24
Prefix

1. small micro
2. excessive hyper
3. within intra
4. above epi
5. rapid tachy

25
Defining and Building Medical Words

Defining and Building medical words are crucial skills in

mastering medical terminology.

1) Defining Medical
words: There are three basic steps for defining medical
words
2) Building Medical
words:

There are three basic rules for building medical

words.

26
 Defining Medical Words
- always separate the word into parts and identify the meaning of each
Step 1.) Define the suffix (last part of the word, the ending)
Word root/ Word root/ Suffix
combining form combining form
1. osteo 2. arthr 3. -itis READ:
(inflammation)
Step 2.) Define the beginning of the word (prefix, word root, combining osteoarthritis
form) =inflammation of
Word root/ Word root/ Suffix the bone and joint
combining form combining form
1. osteo (bone) 2. arthr 3. -itis 3/1/2

Step 3.) Define the middle parts of the word

Word root/ Word root/ Suffix
combining form combining form
1. osteo 2. arthr (joint) 3. -itis 27
Defining Medical Words

Example:
OT/O/ RHIN/O/LARYNG/O/LOGY
1. ear 2. nose 3. larynx or throat 4.the study of

Read as follows:
(4) (1) (2) (3)
4. the study of 1. ear (and) 2. nose (and) 3. throat

28
 Building Medical Words

Rule: 1.) A word root links a suffix that begins with a vowel
Word root Suffix Medical word Meaning
hepat -itis hepatitis inflammation of the liver

Rule: 2.) A combining form (root + “o”) links a suffix that begins with a
consonant
Combining Suffix Medical word Meaning
Form
hepat/o -cyte hepatocyte liver cell

Rule: 3.) A combining form links a root to another root to form compound
words. *this rule holds true even if the next root starts with a vowel.

Combining Form Word root Suffix Medical word Meaning

oste/o arthr -itis osteoarthritis Inflammation of
bone and joint 29
Summary of the rules

1. When learning medical terms – divide them into component parts

(elements).

2. There can be 4 types of word elements in a medical term – a word

root, a combining form, a prefix and a suffix.

3. A word root provides the basic meaning of the term.

4. A suffix appears at the end of the word providing some additional

information.

5. A prefix appears before the word root to change/modify its

meaning.
Summary of the rules

6. A combining vowel – usually an o – connects a word root to a suffix.

7. A combining form consists of a word root and a combining vowel.

8. A combining vowel is not used before a suffix starting with a vowel, but
it is used between two roots in compound words (e.g. gastrointestinal).

9. The meaning of a medical term can usually be determined by starting

with the suffix and moving back to the beginning of the word.
1) Complete the following:

PREFIX
1. Word beginning is called the _______________________.
SUFFIX
2. Word ending is called the __________________________.
WORD ROOT
3. The foundation of a word is called the __________________.
4. A vowel linking a suffix and a root, or two roots, is called the
COMBINING VOWEL
________________________.
5. The combination of a root and a combining vowel is known as the
COMBINING FORM
________________________.

32
2) Write the CF for the following words:

▪ a) gland –
▪ b) brain –
▪ c) head –
▪ d) blood –
▪ e) muscle –
▪ f) nose –
▪ g) joint –
▪ h) cell –
▪ i) chest –
33
2) Write the CF for the following words (key):

▪ a) gland – aden/o
▪ b) brain – cerebr/o or encephal/o
▪ c) head – cephal/o
▪ d) blood – hemat/o
▪ e) muscle – muscul/o
▪ f) nose – rhin/o
▪ g) joint – arthr/o
▪ h) cell – cyt/o
▪ i) chest – thorac/o
34
3) Prefix, word root, combining form or suffix?

▪ cardi- ▪ -tomy
▪ hepat/o- ▪ cephal/o
▪ -itis ▪ nephr
▪ macro- ▪ intra-

35
3) Prefix, word root, combining form or suffix?

▪ cardi- WR ▪ - tomy suffix

▪ hepat/o- CF ▪ cephal/o CF
▪ -itis suffix ▪ nephr WR
▪ macro- prefix ▪ intra- prefix

36
4) Define the medical terms

▪ hepatoma -
▪ rhinitis -
▪ nephromegaly-
▪ intracerebral -

37
4) Define the medical terms

▪ hepatoma - tumor of the liver

▪ rhinitis - inflammation of the nose
▪ nephromegaly - enlargement of the kidney
▪ intracerebral - within the brain

38
5) Write the medical term

white blood cell –

tumor of a gland –
study of the nervous system –
record of the electrical impulses in your brain –
condition of excessive heat –
inflammation of the intestine –
a specialist in the science or study of blood -

39
5) Write the medical term

white blood cell - leukocyte

▪ tumor of a gland - adenoma
▪ study of the nervous system - neurology
▪ record of the electrical impulses in your brain –
electroencephalogram
▪ condition of excessive heat – hyperthermia
▪ inflammation of the intestine – enteritis
▪ a specialist in the science or study of blood - hematologist
40