Origin of medical terminology: Many medical terms are derived from Greek or Latin.
Medical terms are made up of three main branches: Prefixes, suffixes and root of words. Prefix: comes before the main part of the word. By recognising the meaning of the prefix, one can identify the meaning of the word. Example: Post means after Post/natal: after birth Suffixes: come at the end of the word to form a new word usually, in medical terminology to indicate word definition. Example: itis: inflammation of Appendi/citis: inflammation of the appendix Root of the word: is the basic component of the word Example: pulmon: lung Combining vowels: Often it is difficult to pronounce combination of roots of the word particularly when the root ends in a consonant and the other root starts with a consonant. For this reason, it is necessary to insert a combining vowel. Examples: gastr/o/scopy: stomach/o/Looking into Lapar/o/scopy: looking into the abdomen therm/o/meter Pronunciation: It may be easier to break the word down into syllables and say them a few times to practise the best pronunciation particularly when the word is made up of a few components. Example: Oseteo/arthr/o/pathy: disease of the bones and joints Abbreviations: They are definitions for the abbreviated words. Example: ICU: Intensive Care Unit Operative terminology: The terms which refer to operations and medical procedures. Example: Colostomy: opening of the colon Diagnostic terminology: It is terminology that refers to the diagnostic condition or the current illness Example: Prostitis: inflammation of the prostate Symptomatic terminology: The terms that refer to the patients’ signs and symptoms. Example: Shortness of breath, palpitation. Acronyms: An acronym is made up of the initial letters of words in a phrase. Examples: HIV: human immunodeficiency MS: Multiple sclerosis ENT: ear, nose, and throat specialist Eponyms: Proper names derived from a person’s name to refer to a particular disease or a medical condition. Examples: Parkinson’s disease. Down syndrome Some common Acronyms: BP: blood pressure CAT scan: computerised axial tomography CCU: coronary care unit DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid ECG: electro cardio gram/graph MSU: mid stream urine UTI: urinary tract infection Some Common Prefixes: a (n): without anaemia: lack of blood ab (s): away from abnormal: not normal ad: toward adrenal: near the kidney albu:white anykle: bent, crooked ambi: both ambidexterous: ability to use both hands an: without, absence of ante: before, forwards antecubital: before the elbow anti: against, opposite antiseptic: against infection auto: self autoanalysis: self analysis bi: double, twice bifocal: two focal brady: slow bradycardia: slow heart beat brachy: short brachdactylia: short fingers con: together circum: around circumflex:winding around carcino: cancer forming carcinogenic: cancer forming com: with, together cryo: cold cyan: blue contra: against contraception: prevention of conception costo: ribs copr/o: faeces chrom/o: colour of pigment cyst: bladder di (s): two de: down from decay: break down dia: thorogh, complete diaphragm: wall across demi: half dis: to undo disinfection: free from infection dys: bad, abnormal dysuria: painful urination dextro: right dy: two ec: outside ectopic pregnancy: out of place en/em: in epi: upon erythro: red endo: within eso: inward eu: normal, well ex: outside extra: in addition, outside, beyond hapto: bind to hemi: half hept: sevn hetero: different homo: same as hyper: high, excessive hyperglycaemia: high blood sugar hypo: low, deficient hypoglycaemia: low blood sugar im: not, into, in in: not, into, in involuntary: not voluntary infra: among, between inter: between intra: within, inside, during intravenous: inside the veins intro: into, within introversion: turning inward iso: equal, the same juxta: adjacent to Kin: movement Later: side, relating to Leuko: white leukocyte: white blood cells Lepto: thin Mania: madness Melan: black Macro: large Mal: bad malfunction: bad function Micro: small microbe: small organism Medi: middle Mega: large Megalo: abnormal enlargement Meta: after, beyond Multi: many Necro: dead Neo: new neonatal: newborn Non: not Ob: before, against Octo: eight Ortho: straight, normal Oligo: few Oxy: sharp, quick Para: beside, to the side Pachy: thick Pachyderma: abnormal thick skin Pan: all Per: through, excessive Peri: around peripheral: Peri: around Platy: flat, wide Polio: grey Presby: old, elderly Pro: before Post: behind, after postoperative: after surgery Poly: many, much polycystic: many cysts Pre: before, infron Pseudo: false, fake Re: again, contrary Rub: red Retro: behind Schiz: divide, split Schizophrenia: split personality Sclero: hard Supra: upon, over Semi: half Sex: six Sept: seven Sub: under, below Super: above, addition, over Sym: together, joined Tachy: fast, rapid tachycardia: fast heart beat Tetra: four Thalamo: thalamus (brain) Therm: heat Thymo: thymus Thyro: throid gland Trans: through, across Tropho: nutrition Tri: three Tympano: eardrum Ule/ulo: scars Uni: one Ultra: beyond, excess ultrasound: beyond the upper level of human hearing Urano/uran: palate Veno: pertaining to a vein venotomy: surgical opening of a vein Ventriculo: heart or brain ventricle Ventro: ventral, abdomen Vesico: urinary bladder Xantho: yellow colour Xeno: different, foreign Xero: dry Zygo: union, fusion Zygocyte: union of cells.
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