Building Medical Vocabulary

1. Building Medical Vocabulary

2. Combining Forms • When a suffix beginning with a consonant is added to a root, a vowel (usually an o) is inserted between the root and the suffix to aid in pronunciation.

3. Roots • roots are given with their most common combining vowels added after a slash and are referred to simply as roots, as in neur/o. • A combining vowel usually is not used if the ending begins with a vowel. • The rootneuris combined with the suffix -itis, meaning “inflammation of,” in this way: • neur + itis = neuritis (inflammation of a nerve)

4. Suffix

5. Suffix • Suffix is a word ending that modifies a root. • May indicate that the word is a noun or an adjective and often determines how the definition of the word will begin.

6. Examples • myel/o, meaning “bone marrow,” the adjective ending –oidforms the word myeloid, which means “like or pertaining to bone marrow.” • The ending –omaproduces myeloma, which is a tumor of the bone marrow. • Adding another root, gen, which represents genesis or origin, and the adjective ending –ousforms the word myelogenous, meaning “originating in bone marrow.”

10. -ic -ic -ous -form -oid -ical -ile -al -ical

11. Prefix

12. Prefix • Prefix is a short word part added before a word or word root to modify its meaning. • For example, the word lateral means “side.” Adding the prefix uni-, meaning “one,” forms unilateral, which means “affecting or involving one side.” • Adding the prefix contra-, meaning “against or opposite,” forms contralateral, which refers to an opposite side.

15. 1 4 1 Half 2

18. D C A B E

20. ANTI- A- DIS- CONTRA-

22. per- ad- ab- dia- trans-

24. d c e b a

29. Activity