1 Foundations of Medical Terminology Free Online FlashCards

What does a word root contribute to a medical term?

A word root gives the central meaning, often a body part or system; for example, cardi means heart and neur means nerve.

Where does a prefix appear, and what does it do?

A prefix comes before a root and modifies its meaning. For example, peri- means around and brady- means slow.

Where does a suffix appear, and what information can it give?

A suffix follows a root and often describes a condition, procedure, or specialty. For example, -itis means inflammation.

What is a combining form?

A combining vowel, usually o, joins word parts and helps pronunciation. A root plus its combining vowel is a combining form, as in cardi/o.

When is the combining vowel usually kept or dropped?

The combining vowel is usually kept between two roots and before a consonant-starting suffix, but often dropped before a vowel-starting suffix: gastr/o + -scopy gives gastroscopy; gastr + -itis gives gastritis.

When decoding a medical term, which part should you interpret first?

Start with the suffix to identify the kind of term, then define the root or roots and use any prefix to add information.

What does bradycardia mean?

Bradycardia means a condition of a slow heart rate: brady- means slow, cardi means heart, and -ia means condition.

What procedure does nephrectomy name?

Nephrectomy means surgical removal of a kidney: nephr refers to kidney and -ectomy means removal.

What does colonoscopy involve?

Colonoscopy is an examination of the colon using a viewing instrument.

What body part does hepat/o refer to?

Hepat/o means liver; hepatitis means inflammation of the liver.

What does arthritis mean?

Arthritis is inflammation of a joint: arthr/o refers to a joint and -itis means inflammation.

What does hyperglycemia mean?

Hyperglycemia means an abnormally high level of sugar in the blood: hyper- means above or excessive, and glyc refers to sugar.