Which of the Following Can Be Used as a Combining Vowel?
Introduction to Medical Terminology
Medical terminology is language used to depict anatomical structures, procedures, conditions, processes, and treatments. At starting time glance, medical terms may appear intimidating, but once you understand the bones word construction and the definitions of some common discussion elements, the meaning of thousands of medical terms can be hands parsed.
Most medical terms adhere to a fixed structure of a prefix, root, and suffix. These word components are assembled similar 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.ane 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 near influential medical journals and it has become the language of option at international conferences.2
Basic Term Structure
Medical terms are comprised of these standard word parts:
- Prefix: When included, the prefix appears at the beginning of a medical term and usually indicates a location, direction, blazon, quality, or quantity.
- Root: The root gives a term its essential meaning. Nearly all medical terms comprise at least i root. When a prefix is absent, the term begins with a root.
- Suffix: The suffix appears at the stop of a term and may indicate a specialty, test, procedure, function, disorder, or status. Otherwise, it may simply define whether the word is a noun, verb, or adjective.
- Combining vowel: A combining vowel (usually the letter "o") may be added betwixt discussion parts to assistance in pronunciation.
Breaking a word downward into its component parts should help readers determine the pregnant of an unfamiliar term. For case, hypothermia has the prefix hypo- (meaning beneath normal), the root therm (heat or warmth), and the suffix -ia (condition).
Word Roots
A root is the foundational chemical element of any medical term. Roots ofttimes point a body part or system.
Common word roots:
| Caput | |
|---|---|
| brain | enceph |
| ear | ot, aur |
| eardrum | tympan, myring |
| centre | ophthalm, ocul |
| confront | faci |
| olfactory organ | rhin |
| skull | crani |
| tongue | lingu |
| molar | odont, dent |
| Eye and Circulatory | |
|---|---|
| aorta | aort |
| arteries | arteri |
| blood | hem, sangu |
| blood vessels | angi |
| heart | cardi |
| veins | ven, phleb |
| Bones and Muscles | |
|---|---|
| arm | brachi |
| dorsum | dorsa |
| bone | oste |
| foot | pod, ped |
| musculus | myo |
| rib | toll |
| shoulder | scapul |
| wrist | bother |
| Digestive Organisation | |
|---|---|
| appendix | append |
| colon | col |
| esophagus | esophag |
| intestine (normally small) | enter |
| kidney | ren, neph |
| liver | hepat |
| stomach | gastr |
| Other Mutual Roots | |
|---|---|
| cancer | carci |
| drug | chem |
| electric | electr |
| estrus | therm |
| knowledge | gnos |
| life | bi |
| pressure | bar |
| returned sound | repeat |
Compound Words
A medical word may include multiple roots. This oftentimes occurs when referencing more than one body function or system. For example, cardio-pulmo-nary means pertaining to the heart and lungs; gastro-entero-logy means the study of the tummy and intestines.
Combining Forms
A combining vowel is used when a root is followed by another discussion part that begins with a consonant. A combining vowel (usually the letter 'o') is added subsequently the root (due east.one thousand. neur-o-logy) to assistance 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.
Prefixes
A prefix modifies the pregnant of the give-and-take 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:
| Size | |
|---|---|
| big | macro-, mega(lo)- |
| minor | micro- |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| one-half | semi- |
| half (ane side) | hemi- |
| 1 | mono-, uni- |
| two | three | four | bi- | tri- | quad(ri)- |
| equal | equi- |
| many | poly- |
| Level | |
|---|---|
| above normal | hyper- |
| below normal | hypo- |
| normal/good | european union- |
| Time or Speed | |
|---|---|
| earlier | pro-, pre-, ante- |
| after | post- |
| dorsum/backward | retro- |
| again | re- |
| fast | tachy- |
| slow | brady- |
| new | neo- |
| time, long fourth dimension | chron- |
| Location or Relationship | |
|---|---|
| abroad from | ab- |
| above | supra- |
| around | peri- |
| beyond | trans- |
| betwixt | inter- |
| out of, exterior | ex-, ec(t)- |
| self | auto- |
| through, completely | dia- |
| together | con- |
| toward | ad- |
| within, inside | end(o)- |
| Function or Quality | |
|---|---|
| against | anti-, contra- |
| bad | mal- |
| crusade | eti- |
| self | auto- |
| without | a-, de- |
| abnormal, bad | dys- |
Suffixes
Medical terms always end with a suffix.iii 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 only make the discussion a substantive or adjective. For example, the endings -a, -e, -um, and -us are commonly used to create a singular noun (east.thou. crani-um).
Though the suffix appears at the end of the term, it often comes start in the definition. For case, 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 non always present):
| Basic Substantive and Adjective Suffixes | |
|---|---|
| (noun form) | -a, -e, -um, -is |
| causing | -genic |
| condition | -ia, -ism, -sis, -y |
| specialty | -iatry, -iatrics, -ics |
| specialist | -ian, -ist |
| structure | -um, -us |
| study of | -logy |
| pertaining to | -ac, -ar(y), -(east/i)al, -ic(al), -ior, -ory,, -ous, -tic |
| Tests and Procedures | |
|---|---|
| removal of | -ectomy |
| image/record | -gram |
| recording instrument | -graph(y) |
| cut in | -otomy |
| visual exam | -scopy |
| opening | -stomy |
| Pathology or Part | |
|---|---|
| blood (status of) | -emia |
| breathing | -pnea |
| inflammation | -itis |
| condition or disease | -osis |
| deficiency | -penia |
| disease | -pathy |
| excessive flow | -rrhag(e/ia) |
| mass, tumor | -oma |
Plural Forms
Adding an "s" or "es" to the end of a give-and-take is often the straightforward method to make a word plural in English language and many modern Romance languages. In medical terminology, however, things are a little more complicated. The plural class of each word is based on the final 2 messages 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 case, the plural course of "hematoma" is "hematomas" rather than "hematomata."
Mutual singular endings and respective plural endings:
| Plural Formsv | |
|---|---|
| Singular | Plural |
| a | ae |
| en | ina |
| ex, nine, yx | ices |
| is | es |
| ma | mata |
| (a/i/y)nx | nges |
| um | a |
| us | i(i) |
Additional resource:
- OpenMD Medical Dictionary and word parts glossary, which provides definitions for 750 medical roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
- The Understanding Medical Words Tutorial by MedlinePlus provides a curtailed introduction to medical terminology and several quizzes.
- TheFreeDictionary's Medical Lexicon by Farlex offers a comprehensive lexicon of medical terms (including word parts) from American Heritage, Collins Encyclopedia, and other major publishers.
References
- Banay, G L. "An Introduction to Medical Terminology I. Greek and Latin Derivations." Bulletin of the Medical Library Clan vol. 36, 1 (1948).
- Wulff, Henrik R. "The language of medicine." Journal of the Royal Lodge of Medicine vol. 97,4 (2004): 187-8.
- Ehrlich, Ann; Schroeder, Carol L. Introduction to Medical Terminology. Centage Learning, 2015.
- Nath, Judi Lindsley; Lindsley, Kelsey P. A Short Course in Medical Terminology. Wolters Kluwer Health, 2018.
- Cohen, Barbara J. Medical Terminology: An Illustrated Guide. 6th ed. Baltimore, Doc: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2011. Table 2-4.
Published: January 9, 2020
Final updated: Dec 24, 2021
Source: https://openmd.com/guide/medical-terminology
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