Don’t panic! In few months, you will also speak the same language too…But, why wait a few months when you can get a head-start TODAY!
Medical terms, whether they refer to the human body parts or to health conditions, are often compound words made up of sections with a specific meaning. Each section mostly derives from Greek and Latin. 90% of the medical vocabulary is made up by less than 400 prefixes, infixes and suffixes. Prefixes are added before the word stem, infixes are in the middle of a word, while suffixes end a word.
The focus today is on the terms which refer to (parts of) the human body.
|
Body Part / Component
|
Greek Root
|
Latin Root
|
Example
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdomen | lapar(o)- | abdomin- | laparoscopy |
| Arm | brachi(o)- | – | brachial plexus |
| Armpit | – | axill- | axillary nerve |
| Back | – | dors- | dorsal digital vein |
| Bile | – | chol(e)- | cholaemia |
| Bladder | cyst(o)- | vesic(o)- | cystitia/vesicular |
| Blood | haemat-, hemat- (haem-, hem-) | sangui-, sanguine- | sanguinous |
| Blood Clot | thromb(o)- | – | thrombosis |
| Blood Vessel | angi(o)- | vascul-, vas- | provascular |
| Body | somat-, som- | corpor- | metasomatic |
| Bone | oste(o)- | ossi- | osteopath/ossification |
| Bone Marrow, Marrow | myel(o)- | medull- | myelocytes/medullary |
| Brain | encephal(o)- | cerebr(o)- | encephalitis/intracerebral |
| Breast | mast(o)- | mamm(o)- | mastoidectomy/mammography |
| Cell | -cyte, cyt(o)- | erythrocytes, cytoblast | |
| Chest | steth(o)- | – | stethoscope |
| Cheek | – | bucc- | buccolingual |
| Cornea | kerat(o)- | acrokeratoelastoidosis | |
| Ear | ot(o)- | aur- | macrotia/auroscopy |
| Eggs, Ova | oo- | ov- | oocyte/ovocyte |
| Eye | ophthalm(o)- | ocul(o)- | ophtalmologist |
| Eyelid | blephar(o)- | cili-; palpebr- | blepharonasofacial/cillosis/palpebral fissure |
| Fallopian Tubes | salping(o)- | – | salpingectomy |
| Fat, Fatty Tissue | lip(o)- | adip- | alipogenic/adipocyte |
| Finger | dactyl(o)- | digit- | digital vein/ dactylalgia |
| Forehead | – | front(o)- | anterofrontal |
| Foot | -pod- | – | podiatry |
| Gallbladder | cholecyst(o)- | fell- | cholecystatony |
| Genitals, Sexually Undifferentiated | gon(o)-, phall(o)- | – | gonocele/phallic |
| Gland | aden(o)- | – | adenization |
| Glans Penis or Clitoridis | balan(o)- | – | balanoplasty |
| Gums | – | gingiv- | gingivobuccoaxial |
| Hair | trich(o)- | capill- | trichotillomania/capillarectasia |
| Hand | cheir(o)-, chir(o)- | manu- | chiropodology/manubrium |
| Head | cephal(o)- | capit(o)- | cephalic vein/capitate |
| Heart | cardi(o)- | cordi- | cardiovascular |
| Hip, Hip-joint | – | cox- | coxarhtropathy |
| Horn | cerat(o)- | cornu- | angioceratoma/corniform |
| Intestine | enter(o)- | – | enterograph |
| Jaw | gnath(o)- | – | Gnathic index |
| Joint | articul(o)- | arthr- | articulation/arthritis, arthralgia |
| Kidney | nephr(o)- | ren- | pyelonephritis/renicardiac |
| Knee | gon- | genu- | genupectoral |
| Lip | cheil(o)-, chil(o)- | labi(o)- | macrocheilia/labiodental |
| Liver | hepat(o)- (hepatic-) | jecor- | hepatitis |
| Loins, Pubic Region | episi(o)- | pudend- | episioitis/pudendagra |
| Lungs | pneumon- | pulmon(i)- (pulmo-) | pneumonia/pulmocardiac |
| Marrow, Bone Marrow | myel(o)- | medull- | amyelotrophy/medulla oblongata |
| Mind | Psych-, phren- | ment- | psychology/phrenology/dementia |
| Mouth | stomat(o)- | or- | stomatopathy/oral |
| Muscle | my(o)- | muscul- | amyocardia/musculoskeletal |
| Nail | onych(o)- | ungui- | melanonychia/ subungual |
| Navel | omphal(o)- | umbilic- | omphaloncus/umbilical cord |
| Neck | trachel(o)- | cervic- | trachelocele/cervicardiac |
| Nerve; The Nervous System | neur(o)- | nerv- | idionerual/nervous |
| Nipple, Teat | thele- | papill-, mammill- | theleplasty/papillary/mammillitis |
| Nose | rhin(o)- | nas- | rhinallergosis/nasal cavity |
| Ovary | oophor(o)- | ovari(o)- | oophorectomy/hyperovaria |
| Pelvis | pyel(o)- | pelv(i)- | endopyelotomy/endopelvic |
| Penis | pe(o)- | – | peotomy |
| Pupil (of The Eye) | cor-, core-, coro- | – | anisocoria |
| Rib | pleur(o)- | cost(o)- | pleurocentesis/costalgia |
| Rib Cage | thorac(i)-, thorac(o)- | – | thoracic |
| Shoulder | om(o)- | humer(o)- | omarthritis/humeroulner |
| Sinus | – | sinus- | sinusitis |
| Skin | dermat(o)- (derm-) | cut(ane)-, cuticul- | dermatologist, subcutaneous |
| Skull | crani(o)- | – | cranioclast |
| Spine | rhachi(o)-, spondyl(o)- | rachioplegia/spondylomalacia | |
| Stomach | gastr(o)- | ventr(o)- | gastromyorrhea/ventriduction |
| Testis | orchi(o)-, orchid(o)- | – | orchichorea |
| Tissue | hist(o)-, histio- | histionic | |
| Throat (upper Throat Cavity) | pharyng(o)- | – | pharyngitis |
| Throat (lower Throat Cavity/voice Box]) | laryng(o)- | – | laryngitis |
| Thumb | – | pollic- | pollical |
| Tooth | odont(o)- | dent(i)- | allotridontia/dentinogenesis |
| Tongue | gloss-, glott- | lingu(a)- | entoglossal/lingual artery |
| Toe | dactyl(o)- | digit- | See *finger |
| Uterine Tubes | sarping(o)- | sarping(o)- | salpingectomy |
| Uterus | hyster(o)-, metr(o)- | uter(o)- | hysterocele/uterine |
| Vagina | colp(o)- | vagin- | colposcopy |
| Vein | phleb(o)- | ven- | phelbarteriodyalisis/venous |
| Vulva | episi(o)- | vulv- | episiorrhaphy/vulvovaginitis |
| Womb | hyster(o)-, metr(o)- | uter(o)- | See *uterus |
| Wrist | carp(o)- | carp(o)- | carpopedal |
| Xiphisternum | xiph- | – | xiphoid process |
| Zygote | zygo- | – | zygosis |
We thought that deep-diving into 400 prefixes, infixes and suffixes would be a bit too much, and not the best way to learn. So, after the human body, in few weeks, we’ll focus on other widely used words which make up medical terms (e.g. health conditions, locations, etc.). For the moment, you’ll have enough to discover.
In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for upcoming blog articles, just let us know.
Happy Learning!
Claudia
________
Explore more anatomy terms with the search function on our Interactive 3D Human Anatomy & Physiology.
