Medical prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms

Medical prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms Medical terminology is a language used to precisely describe the human body, its components, processes, conditions affecting it, and procedures performed upon it. The language is primarily derived from Greek and Latin. Medical terms are often made up of a combination of prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms.

Prefixes

Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning. They often indicate location, time, number, or status. Some common medical prefixes include:

• a- or an-: without, lack of (e.g., anemia)
• brady-: slow (e.g., bradycardia)
• tachy-: fast (e.g., tachycardia)
• hyper-: over, excessive (e.g., hypertension)
• hypo-: under, below normal (e.g., hypoglycemia)

Suffixes

Suffixes are added to the end of a word to modify its meaning. They often indicate a procedure, condition, disorder, or disease. Some common medical suffixes include:

• -itis: inflammation (e.g., appendicitis)
• -ectomy: surgical removal (e.g., appendectomy)
• -ology: study of (e.g., cardiology)
• -pathy: disease (e.g., neuropathy)
• -scopy: visual examination (e.g., endoscopy)

Combining Forms

Combining forms are used to connect prefixes and suffixes to the root word. They often involve the use of a vowel, usually 'o', to make the term easier to pronounce. Some common combining forms include:

• cardi/o: heart (e.g., cardiologist)
• gastr/o: stomach (e.g., gastroenterology)
• neur/o: nerve (e.g., neurology)
• oste/o: bone (e.g., osteoporosis)
• dermat/o: skin (e.g., dermatology)

Related Pages

• Medical terminology
• Anatomical terminology
• List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes
• Glossary of medicine

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Source: Data courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Since the data might have changed, please query MeSH on Medical prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms for any updates.

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