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Most medical terms can be broken down into one or more word parts. There are a total of four different word parts, and any given medical term may contain one, some, or all of these parts. We will classify these word parts as: (1) roots, (2) prefixes, (3) suffixes, and (4) linking or combining vowels. An example of a word with three parts is the medical term "pericarditis," which means "inflammation of the outer layer of the heart." Pericarditis can be divided into three parts: peri - card - itisOnce divided into parts, pericarditis can be translated: the prefix "peri" translates to "surrounding," the root "card" translates to "heart," and the suffix "itis" translates to "inflammation." Hence, pericarditis is an inflammation of the area surrounding the heart, or an inflammation of the outer layer of the heart, anatomically known as the pericardium [go to Mayo Clinic's Pericarditis page]. Medical terms always consist of at least one "root," although they may contain more—sometimes several more. The root of a word is that part which contains the essential meaning of the word. An example of this was seen above in the term "pericarditis." The root of the word – card – refers to the heart, so any prefix or suffix added to the root (card) will only function to add to the specificity of that word. An example of this would be the prefix "brady," which means "slow." If "brady" is added to the root "card," the term "bradycard" – which roughly means "slow heart" – is created. Then, if the suffix "ia" – which means "a condition or state" – is added to "bradycard," the medical term "bradycardia" is formed. The translation of bradycardia (brady - card - ia) is slow - heart - state, or the condition of a slow heart rate. As was discussed above, a medical term must have at least one root, but does not have to have a prefix and/or a suffix. An example of this is the term "sternocleidomastoid," which is a muscle that has attachments at the sternum, the clavicle, and the mastoid. The term sternocleidomastoid can be divided into three parts (three roots, in this case): stern - o - cleid - o - mastoid. Notice that there are vowels between the three roots. These are "linking or combining vowels," which serve to make a term easier to pronounce. The vowel used most of the time is "o," but other vowels such as "i" and "a" are also used. Combining vowels are often used between roots and suffixes or roots and other roots, but they are not used between prefixes and roots.
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Medical terminology is language used to describe anatomical structures, processes, conditions, medical procedures, and treatments. At first glance, medical terms may appear intimidating, but once you understand the basic word structure and the definitions of some common word elements, the meaning of thousands of medical terms can be easily parsed. Most medical terms adhere to a fixed structure of a prefix, root, and suffix. These word components are assembled like building blocks to create a vast vocabulary. Greeks are considered the founders of rational medicine and medical terms are primarily derived from Greek and Latin.1 Over centuries, the language of medicine has evolved into multiple national medical languages. Today, medical English is the dominant language for international communication. English is used in most influential medical journals and it has become the language of choice at international conferences.2 Basic Term StructureMedical terms are comprised of these standard word parts:
Breaking a word down into its component parts should help readers determine the meaning of an unfamiliar term. For example, hypothermia has the prefix hypo- (meaning below normal), the root therm (heat or warmth), and the suffix -ia (condition).  Word RootsA root is the foundational element of any medical term. Roots often indicate a body part or system. Common word roots:
Compound Words A medical word may include multiple roots. This frequently occurs when referencing more than one body part or system. For example, cardio-pulmo-nary means pertaining to the heart and lungs; gastro-entero-logy means the study of the stomach and intestines. Combining Forms A combining vowel is used when a root is followed by another word part that begins with a consonant. A combining vowel (usually the letter ‘o’) is added after the root (e.g. neur-o-logy) to aid pronunciation. The root and vowel together (e.g. neur-o) are called the combining form. For simplicity, combining vowel options are omitted from the word part tables. PrefixesA prefix modifies the meaning of the word root. It may indicate a location, type, quality, body category, or quantity. The prefix is optional and does not appear in all medical terms. Common prefixes:
SuffixesMedical terms always end with a suffix.3 The suffix usually indicates a specialty, test, procedure, function, condition/disorder, or status. For example, “itis” means inflammation and “ectomy” means removal. Alternatively, the suffix may simply make the word a noun or adjective. For example, the endings -a, -e, -um, and -us are commonly used to create a singular noun (e.g. crani-um). Though the suffix appears at the end of the term, it often comes first in the definition. For example, appendicitis means inflammation (-itis) of the appendix.4 Accordingly, it is sometimes helpful to read unfamiliar medical terms from right to left. Occasionally, a medical term may be comprised of a prefix and suffix. For example, apnea includes the prefix a- (without) and suffix -pnea (breathing). Common suffixes (letters in parenthesis are not always present):
Plural Forms Adding an “s” or “es” to the end of a word is often the straightforward method to make a word plural in English and many modern Romance languages. In medical terminology, however, things are a little more complicated. The plural form of each word is based on the last two letters of the singular suffix. There are several exceptions. For example, “virus” is a Latin term without a plural form. “Viruses” is the accepted plural form. Elsewhere, the suffix “s” or “es” has occasionally prevailed in common usage. For example, the plural form of “hematoma” is “hematomas” rather than “hematomata.” Common singular endings and corresponding plural endings:
Additional resources: References
Published: January 9, 2020 Last updated: December 24, 2021 |
When giving the definition of a medical term which part of the word is typically defined first?
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