Medical Terms

1. Medical Terms Medical Terminology

2. Introduction: • Medical terminology is a language in itself. • Learning medical terminology is like learning a new language. • Once you understand basic rules as to how medical terms are formed, it is like piecing together a puzzle. Utah State Office of Education

3. Introducion (cont) • You will begin by building a vocabulary of word parts. • Learning the meanings of these basic medical word parts will help you master the language of medicine. • Memorizing these parts is essential to understanding medical terms. Utah State Office of Education

4. Introduction • Most medical terms follow the general rules and containg • A word root – basic meaning for the word and/or • Prefixes - placed at the beginning of the word and/or • Suffixes – placed at the end of a word which modify the meaning of the word root, and sometimes • A combining vowel – connect other word parts. • The parts combine to form a complete term that conveys a specific idea. • There are always exceptions to every rule, however. Utah State Office of Education

5. Medical Terminology • There are three areas you must concentrate on when you learn a new word element or medical term: • Pronunciation • Spelling • Meaning • Each of these are essential to the correct use and understanding of medical terminology. Utah State Office of Education

6. Word Roots • Each body system has a set of word roots. • For example, many terms used to describe the cardiovascular system (the heart and blood vessels) derive from the roots cardi- (heart) and angi- (vessel). • Many terms relating to the respiratory system (the lungs and airways) use the roots pneum- (air or lung), pulmon- (lung), or bronch- (airway). • Many words related to the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and nerves) are formed from roots neur- (nerve) or cerebr- (brain). Utah State Office of Education

7. Word Roots • Sometimes two or three roots have the same meaning. • You will use one root word in some contexts, and a different root word in other contexts. • Why do we have more than one root with the same meaning? • Because medical terminology grew in several places at once. Utah State Office of Education

8. Word Roots • Some roots are associated with body systems • Others can be applied to any body system. • Some may be used to describe something (adjectives or adverbs) or name something (nouns). Utah State Office of Education

9. Combining Forms • A combining vowel is often used to join a word root and a suffix. • The most commonly used combining vowel is “o”. • The second most common is “i”. • When combining forms are shown in medical terminology lists, there is usually a slash separating the root and the connecting vowel. • For example, carcin/o, abdomin/o, cardi/o. Utah State Office of Education

10. Combining Forms (cont) • Connecting forms make medical terms easier to spell and pronounce. • They can also connect a root with another root when more than one root is used to form a term. • For example: Musculoskeletal. Utah State Office of Education

11. Prefixes • A prefix is a word part that comes before the root or combining form and usually begins the term. • Prefixes often give an indication of direction, location, number of parts, time, or orientation. • Not every medical term will have a prefix. • There can be several prefixes associated with one meaning. • A few prefixes have more than one related meaning. Utah State Office of Education

12. Suffixes • The language of medicine uses a large number of suffixes (at the end of words). • Every medical term must have a suffix. • Many medical terms are formed by adding a suffix to a root or combining form. • Pay particular attention to the spelling of suffixes since changing a single letter may change the meaning. • For example, -logy and –logist. Utah State Office of Education

13. Prefix + Suffix • Medical terms can also be built by combining a prefix directly with a suffix (without a word root). • For example, dystrophy (DIS troh fee), which means abnormal development, is built from the prefix dys- (meaning abnormal or bad) and the suffix –trophy (meaning development or growth). Utah State Office of Education

14. Word Building • Word building consists of putting together several word elements to form a variety of terms. • Remember to break down every word into its parts (prefix, word root, combining vowel, and suffix) when you are learning medical terminology. • Figure out how the word is formed from its parts. Utah State Office of Education

15. Med Term Tip • To gain a quick understanding of a term, read the term from the end of the word (or the suffix) back to the beginning (the prefix), and then pick up the word root. • For example, pericarditis reads inflammation (-itis) surrounding (peri-) the heart (cardi/o)  this gives us the meaning – “inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart”. Utah State Office of Education

16. Pronunciation • You will hear different pronunciations for the same terms depending on where people were born or educated. • As long as it is clear which term people are discussing, differing pronunciations are acceptable. • If you have any doubt about the term being discussed, ask for the term to be spelled. Utah State Office of Education

17. Pronunciation • Hints: • Ch sounds like k. • Chyme, Cholecystectomy, Chronic. • Ps sounds like s. • Psychiatric, Psychology, Psoriasis. • Pn sounds like n. • Pneumonia, Pneumatic. • C sounds like a soft s when it comes before e, i, and y. • Cycle, Cytoplasm, Centrifuge. Utah State Office of Education

18. Pronunciation • G sounds like j when it comes before e, i, and y. • Giant, Gestation, Generic, Gyration. • I sounds like “eye” when added to the end of a word to form a plural. • Glomeruli, Villi, Alveoli, Bacilli. Utah State Office of Education

19. Forming Plurals • In medical terminology, plural words can be confusing. • Some plural terms are formed based on Greek and Latin rules, while others are formed using English language rules. • Unfortunately, the rules are not applied consistently. • Whenever you are uncertain of the correct plural form of a term, consult a medical dictionary. Utah State Office of Education

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