CHAPTER 1

Medical terminology

CONTENTS
Language of Medicine 1
Medical Terms 3
Roots 3
Suffixes 9
Prefixes 12
Combining Forms 3
Spelling of Medical Terms 19
Pronunciation of Medical Terms 27
Focus on Reading 29
Vocabulary Development 33
Medical Collocations 33
Academic Words 35
Focus on Grammar 37
Oral Communication Skills 41
Focus on Writing 45
Pronunciation Exercise 48
Review Exercises 51
Self-Assessment 63

Learning outcomes
 At the end of this chapter, students are expected to be able to:
1. explain the need for medical terms
2. define the constituents of medical terms: root, suffix, and prefix
3. define medical combining forms
4. analyze medical terms into their constituents
5. construct medical terms by applying general rules
6. use certain medical collocations and academic words properly
7. pronounce medical terms properly
8. skim and scan medical texts for main ideas and details
9. paraphrase a sentence or a paragraph
10. prepare an oral presentation

Language of medicine
Terminology is the set of terms, expressions, or symbols associated with a certain
discipline of study, profession, or activity. Developing a functional competence in
terminology is an essential component of being able to work in a given field or
profession. Medical terminology is the variety of language that health care
professionals and providers use in practicing their careers. Medical terms
constitute a standardized means of communication among health care providers
because all such specialists use special terminology to describe human body,
diseases, symptoms, diagnostic procedures, drug administration, and treatment in
the fields of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, physiotherapy, medical lab
sciences, clinical nutrition, and dietetics, environmental health sciences, and
medical diagnostic imaging. Medical terms are used in both speaking and writing
during the process of communication between health care professionals and their
clients. Therefore, it is essential for students in any medical profession to learn
the meanings of medical terms pertaining to each one’s career. It is also necessary
to learn how to pronounce and spell medical terms properly because mistakes in
such fields are intolerable. The significance of learning medical terms stems from
the following reasons:

■ Medical terms enable health care workers to communicate efficiently with each
other and with their patients in one language.

■ They ensure complete and mutual understanding of patients’ issues, including

diagnosis and treatment procedures.
■ Medical terms help us decipher complex information because they are made up
of roots, prefixes, and suffixes that generally have fixed meanings to all
workers in health care careers.

■ Medical terms facilitate the process of documentation and make it easy and fast
due to the frequent use of abbreviations in recording medical information.

It has become clear that possessing an adequate functional knowledge of

medical terms is indispensable to all people working in health-related disciplines.
Knowledge of medical terms involves a number of aspects such as knowing the
meaning/s of a medical term, its structure, its derived forms, spelling, and
pronunciation.
Medical terms are almost universal because most of them are derived from
Latin or Greek origins. Table 1.1 provides samples of modern medical terms and
their Latin or Greek origins. Learning medical vocabulary is a strenuous and
highly demanding process because it is always changing and developing. Although
most medical terms are based on classical Latin and Greek roots, they are no
longer restricted to such origins. Many medical terms nowadays have been
borrowed from ordinary English words such as scanning, screening, and bypass
operation. In order to learn the meanings of medical terms, students need to
familiarize themselves with the way medical terms are structured and created. A
medical term is usually composed of a root that carries the basic sense of the term
to which prefixes and suffixes may be added.

Table 1.1
Latin and Greek Origins of Some Current Medical Terms

Current Term Origin

artery Latin arteria; Greek arteria
cardi(o) the heart Greek kardia
cell Latin cella
ligament Latin ligamentum
nephropathia Greek nephros
ventricle Latin venter
umbilicus Latin umbilic
tendon Latin tendo
sinus Latin sinus
vein Latin vena
nerve Latin nervus
hernia Latin hernia
gastr Greek gaster (stomach)
ovary Greek oophor
cancer Greek carcin
Medical terms
Constituents of medical terms: Roots, suffixes,
prefixes, and combining forms
Roots
The primary constituent of each medical term is the root that carries its basic
meaning. Prefixes and suffixes can be added to the root to modify its meaning.
A root is the part of a word that carries its basic meaning. The root in medical
terms cannot stand alone to give a complete meaning. A prefix or a suffix may be
added to it in order to make a full term that has meaning. This is due to the fact
that most medical roots are borrowed from different source languages such as
Latin and Greek. In the word gastroscopy, for example, the root is gastr (stomach)
and -scopy is a suffix (visual examination). Adding the meaning of the suffix to
that of the root will make up the entire meaning of the medical term gastroscopy
(visual examination of the stomach).
 FIGURE 1.1 Gastroscopy: visual examination of the stomach.

A medical term may consist of one or more roots but only one suffix, as shown
in Table 1.2. We can only add a prefix whenever we need to modify the meaning of
the root.
Table 1.2
Medical Terms with One or More Roots

One root hem/o/globin

Two roots electr/o/cardi/o/gram
Three roots ot/o/rhin/o/laryng/o/logy
Four roots esophag/o/gastr/o/duoden/o/jejun/o/stomy

It is worth noting that certain body parts have more than one word root, because
one root comes from Latin and the other from Greek. You should be familiar with
both roots because you may encounter both of them in your study. Table 1.3
provides some illustrative examples.

Table 1.3
Body Parts/Organs that Have Two or More Roots
 FIGURE 1.3 Otorhinolaryngology: study of ear, nose, and larynx.

Suffixes
A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its
meaning or to produce a new word (part of speech). For example, if the suffix -
tomy (cutting into) is added to the root gastr, the resulting term gastrotomy will
mean incision into the stomach. However, if the suffix -ectomy is added to the
same root, the resulting term gastrectomy will mean excision of the stomach.
Moreover, adding -al to the root dent (noun) produces dental (adjective).
Notice the difference between neuralgia, neuritis, and neuroplasty. The
meaning of each term differs from that of the other because of the different
suffixes added to the same root neur which means nerve. The suffix -algia means
having pain; -itis means inflammation; and finally -plasty means plastic repair.
The first word means condition of having pain in the nerve; the second means
inflammation of the nerve and third means plastic repair of the nerve. Table 1.4
provides examples of commonly used but confused suffixes.

Table 1.4
Commonly Used but Confused Suffixes
Table 1.5

Terms Using the Suffix -Scopy (Visual Examination of)

Medical Term Meaning

bronchoscopy visual examination of the bronchial tubes
laryngoscopy visual examination of the larynx
laparoscopy visual examination of the abdomen
gastroscopy visual examination of the stomach
arthroscopy visual examination of joints
cystoscopy visual examination of the urinary bladder
ophthalmoscopy visual examination of eyes
otoscopy visual examination of ears
sigmoidoscopy visual examination of the sigmoid colon
rhinoscopy visual examination of the nose
uroscopy visual examination of the urinary tract
colonoscopy visual examination of the large intestine
esophagoscopy visual examination of the esophagus

Table 1.6

Terms Using the Suffix -Logist

Medical Term Meaning

cardiologist specialist in the study and treatment of the heart diseases
dermatologist specialist in the study of skin
oncologist specialist in the study of tumors
nephrologist specialist in the study of the kidneys
gynecologist specialist in the study of women’s diseases
trichologist specialist in the study of hair
urologist specialist in the study of the urinary system
hematologist specialist in the study of the blood
biologist specialist in the study of living tissues
otorhinolaryngologist specialist in the study of the ear, nose, and larynx
ophthalmologist specialist in the study of eyes
endocrinologist specialist in the study of the endocrine system
gastroenterologist specialist in the study of the stomach and intestine

Commonly used suffixes

 FIGURE 1.6 Erythrocyte: red blood cells.

It is worth noting that sometimes there might be two or more suffixes that have
the same meaning but they are not interchangeable. That is to say, where one is
used, the other cannot. For example, the suffixes -opsia and -opia mean vision, but
we can only say diplopia (double vision) not diplopsia.

Prefixes
A prefix is a letter or a group of letters attached to the beginning of a root to
modify its meaning. For example, the term hyperglycemia consists of a prefix
(hyper), a root (glyc), and a suffix (-emia).
Consider the following examples and note the different meaning that results
when a new prefix is added to the same root.

Prefix Medical Term Meaning

hemi- hemiplegia paralysis of one side of the body
para- paraplegia condition of having lower half paralysis
quadri- quadriplegia condition of having paralysis in the four limbs
pan- panplegia condition of having total paralysis
pseudo- pseudoplegia condition of having false paralysis
 FIGURE 1.7 Quadriplegia: paralysis of the four limbs of the body.

The root cardi may be preceded by two different prefixes. The addition of
brady- (slow) and tachy- (rapid) to the same root results in two different terms:
brady/card/ia (having slow heart rate) and tachy/card/ia (rapid heart rate).
Similarly, the root later can be preceded by the prefixes bi- and uni- as in
bi/later/al, which means pertaining to both sides, and uni/later/al, which means
pertaining to one side.

Commonly used prefixes

 FIGURE 1.8 Sublingual (under the tongue).

When a suffix starting with a consonant is added to a root ending with a

consonant, a vowel is added between the root and the suffix in order to ease the
articulation of the resulting form. This vowel is referred to as the combining
vowel. The root plus the combining vowel are called the combining form. The
term cystoscope, for example, consists of the root cyst-, a combining vowel -o-
and the suffix -scope. However, the combining vowel is omitted if the suffix starts
with a vowel as in gastrectomy (gastr + ectomy), cephalic (cephal + ic), adenitis
(aden + itis), neuralgia (neur + algia), carcinoma (carcin + oma), and hematuria
(hemat + uria).

Examples
cyst (root): urinary bladder
o (combining vowel): does not add anything to meaning.
scope (suffix): instrument to examine a body organ visually
Cystoscope is an instrument to visually examine the urinary bladder.

Notice that the combining vowel is omitted because the suffix -ic begins with a
vowel as in:
 Similarly,

In this context, it is worth noting that the combining vowel is retained if a root
is added to another root even though the second root begins with a vowel as in:
h. hyper/thyroid/o/ism ______________________________________________

i. arthr/o/algia _____________________________________________________

j. cerebr/o/vascul/o/ar ______________________________________________

Reading medical terms

Reading a medical term in order to get its meaning is quite easy. You should
always start from the end, then move to the beginning, and across the term. A
word such as electr/o/encephal/o/graphy consists of two roots, two combining
vowels and a suffix. We start reading from the last part (-graphy), which means
act of recording; then we move to the first part (electr/o), which means electricity;
and finally (encephal/o), which means brain. The entire word means the act of
recording the electrical activity in the brain.
Notice that if you read medical terms backward, you will change the whole
meaning of the term. Consider the meaning of the following two words (reading
from the suffix, back to the beginning of the term).
If the word hemat/o/ur/ia is read backward, it will mean condition of having
urea in the blood, which is wrong because this condition is called ur/o/em/ia.
Therefore, a medical term has to be read from the end and then to the beginning
and across not backward. Thus, the meaning of hematuria is a condition of having
blood in the urine, whereas uremia means a condition of having urea in the blood.
A medical term may not always consist of prefix + root + suffix. In fact, it can
be made up of different combinations as shown in the Tables 1.7–1.12:

Table 1.7
Terms Using One Root + Suffix
Table 1.8
Terms Using One Root + Combining Vowel + Suffix

Table 1.9
Terms Using Root + Combining Vowel (V) + Root + Combining Vowel +
Suffix

Table 1.10
Terms Using Root + Combining Vowel + Root + Suffix
 FIGURE 1.10 The anatomy of a kidney.

In conclusion, a medical term may consist of one or more of the preceding

combinations. In brief, the major constituents of a medical term are as follows:

1. Root: the part of the term that conveys its basic meaning.

2. Prefix: a letter or a group of letters attached to the beginning of a term to

modify its meaning.

3. Suffix: a letter or a group of letters attached to the end of a term to produce a

new word form in general or to modify the meaning of the root.

4. Combining form: a root with a combining vowel.

5. Combining vowel: a vowel inserted between a root and a suffix that starts with
a consonant or a root and another root to ease pronunciation.

Practice 1.2 Write the medical term for each of the following definitions.

a. The study of women’s diseases is called ______________________________.

b. Record of electricity in the brain is called ___________________________.

c. Low level of hormone from a gland in the neck is called _______________.

d. An instrument that examines the patient’s eye is called ____________

_______________________.

e. Pertaining to behind the stomach __________________________________.

Practice 1.3 Divide the following terms into their component parts and provide
the meaning of the whole term.

Spelling of medical terms

Correct spelling to writing is as important as correct pronunciation to speaking.
Misspelling medical terms may lead to wrong meanings or to life-threatening
situations such as death or serious injury to patients. Therefore, it is necessary that
you learn the correct spelling of the terms you use in your field. When in doubt
about the spelling of a term, you should not hesitate to consult your medical
dictionary.
Table 1.13

The “rh” Rule

When a suffix beginning with the letters “rh” is added to a root, the
letter “r” is doubled.

Table 1.14

The “x” Rule

In nouns ending with “x” preceded by a consonant, change the “x”
into “g” when you derive an adjective from those nouns, or when a
suffix is added to them.
 When adjectives are derived from nouns ending with “x” that is preceded with a
vowel, the “x” is changed into “c.”

Word Adjective Meaning

cervix cervical pertaining to the neck
thorax thoracic pertaining to the chest

Basic medical terms

The following terms are frequently used in health care fields.

Diagnosis: The act or process of identifying or determining the nature and cause
of a disease or injury through evaluation of patient history, examination, and
review of laboratory data (state of complete knowledge).

Prognosis: A prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disease (state of

prior knowledge).

Sign: Objective evidence of disease or the physical manifestation of injury,

illness, or disease. Objective means that the sign can be evaluated or measured
by the patient or others.

Symptoms: Subjective evidence of disease or what the patient experiences about

the injury; subjective means that it can be evaluated or measured only by the
patient.

Syndrome: A group of symptoms and signs that collectively indicate or

characterize a disease, psychological disorder, or other abnormal condition.

Acronym: A word formed by combining the initial letters of a multipart name or

major parts of a compound term, such as GERD from Gastro Esophageal Reflux
Disease.

Abbreviation: A shortened form of a word or phrase used chiefly in writing to

represent the complete form, such as AMI, for Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Eponym: One whose name is or is thought to be the source of the name of

something such as a disease, structure, operation, or procedure named for the
person who discovered it first, for example, Marfan syndrome, Fallopian tube,
Rinne test, Huntington disease.
pelvis: funnel-shaped area in kidney

pelvis: hipbones with sacrum and coccyx

scler: whitening of the eye

scler/o: hardening

myel/o: spinal cord

myel/o: bone marrow

cyst/o: urinary bladder

cyst: filled sac or pouch

Pronunciation of medical terms

Pronouncing medical terms is rather difficult because many terms are
multisyllabic and some of them have silent letters or have unusual pronunciation.
Some differences between spelling and pronunciation are shown in Table 1.15.

Table 1.15
Irregular Spelling and Pronunciation
Table 1.16

Silent Letters

Term Silent letter/s Meaning

rhinoplasty h plastic repair of the nose
ptosis p drooping
pneumonia p lung infection
gnathic g pertaining to the jaw
psychiatrist p specialist in the treatment of the mind
euthanasia e painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease

The difficulty in pronouncing medical terms is aggravated by the fact that

certain letters have more than one corresponding sound. For example, the letter
“c” may be pronounced as “s” that is referred to as the soft “c,” or as “k” that is
referred to as the hard “c” as can be noticed in Table 1.17.

Table 1.17
Soft and Hard “c”

Soft c (s) Hard c (k)

cerebral cardiology
hyperglycemia arthroscope
encephalogram cardiac
cytology gastric
leukocyte electrical
septicemia endocrinology
amniocentesis pericardium
cell medical
incision pharmacology

Rule: when the letter “c” is followed by “i, e, or y,” it is usually pronounced “s”;
otherwise it is pronounced “k.”

Similarly, the letter “g” also has two different

pronunciations. The soft “g” is pronounced “j” as in
large; whereas the hard “g” is pronounced “g” as in
“good” as can be noticed in Table 1.18.
Table 1.18
Soft and Hard “g”

Soft “g” (large) Hard “g” (egg)

hematology hypoglycemia
enlargement electrocardiogram
surgical organ
salpingitis malignant
pharyngitis inguinal
arthralgia mammography
angioplasty ligament
meningitis gallbladder
menorrhagia gastric

Rule: when the letter “g” is followed by “i, e, or y,” it is soft “g” as in large;
otherwise it is hard “g” as in egg.

Practice 1.4 Identify whether each of the following words has a soft or hard “c” or
“g.”

Focus on reading
Prereading: Answer the following questions.

1. Name some early Arab and Muslim scholars.

2. In which fields did they excel?

3. Select a scholar and prepare a short oral presentation on his achievements.

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

1. Many of us owe more of a debt than we might suspect to the Islamic scientists
of the Middle Ages. Muslim chemists, physicians, astronomers, mathematicians,
geographers, and others not only kept alive the disciplines of Greek science but
also extended their range, laying and strengthening the foundations on which
much of modern science is built. Scientific terms with Arabic roots, from algebra
to zenith, reflect a period when Islam’s activity significantly widened knowledge
and ameliorated human suffering.

2. Al-Razi, known in the west by his name Rhazes, one of the most celebrated of
Islam’s early physicians, lived from 865 to 925. His importance was so great that
his colleagues called him “the Experienced.” The finest clinician of the age, he
has been compared to Hippocrates for his originality in describing diseases. He is
said to have written more than 200 books, ranging in subject matter from
medicine and alchemy to theology and astronomy. About half the books are on
medicine, including a well-known treatise on smallpox. In his discussion of
smallpox, Al-Razi was the first to differentiate a specific disease from among
many eruptive fevers that attacked man. By giving the clinical symptoms of
smallpox, he enabled doctors to diagnose it correctly and to predict the course of
the disease.

3. While Al-Razi knew nothing about bacteria, the theory of which was not to be
discovered until the early seventeenth century, he had an instinctive sense of
hygienic principles far ahead of medieval standards. To appreciate his insights, it
must be remembered that he lived in a world where contamination and filth were
so common as to go unnoticed, and infections and contagious diseases killed
millions. Against this unsanitary background, he was once asked to choose the site
for a new hospital in Baghdad. To do so, he suspended pieces of meat at various
points around the city, and at the location where the meat decomposed most
slowly, he recommended building the hospital.

4. The high point of Al-Razi’s career was an encyclopedia in which he compiled

Greek, Syrian, Persian, Hindu, and early Arabic knowledge, as well as anecdotal
evidence based on his own extensive clinical experience. This book contributed a
great deal to shaping European medicine.
5. Another great Medieval Muslim physician was Ibn Sina, better known in the
West by his Latin name, Avicenna. Called “the Prince of Philosophers” by his
contemporaries, he is still recognized as one of the great minds of all times. He
wrote some 170 books on various subjects and is said to have memorized the
entire Qur’an when he was only ten years old. Ibn Sina’s most renowned
achievement was the Canon of Medicine, an encyclopedia that dealt with virtually
every phase of the treatment of disease. From the twelfth to the seventeenth
centuries, it served as the chief guide to medical science in European universities.
Ibn Sina is credited with such personal contributions as recognizing the
contagious nature of tuberculosis and describing certain skin diseases and
psychological disorders. He also observed that certain diseases can be spread by
water and soil, an advanced view for his time.

6. Muslim physicians also helped develop the science of surgery and performed
many remarkably complex operations for their time, including brain and blood
vessel surgery and operations for cancer. Islamic physicians were especially
skilled in treating eye diseases, perhaps because such ailments were so widespread
in the Middle East. They wrote textbooks on ophthalmology and invented an
ingenious method of operating on soft cataracts of the eye, using a tube to suck
out the fluid that filled the capsule of the eye lens.

7. In the treatment of patients in hospitals, Muslims were progressive. As early as

the start of the ninth century, there were thirty-four surprisingly modern hospitals
throughout the Muslim world. Some of these hospitals had different wards for the
treatment of different illnesses. They also had outpatient clinics for the immediate
treatment of minor injuries, while patients with more serious complaints were
admitted to a ward. In the eleventh century, peripatetic clinics served areas beyond
the hospitals’ reach. These were moved from place to place on the backs of camels
and were generally run by one or more doctors. These mobile clinics were also
used in time of epidemics when hospitals were filled to overflowing.

A. Read the following statements and write “T” for true and “F” for false.

1. ______ Al-Razi’s encyclopedia had no influence on

European medicine.

2. ______ Muslim physicians were able to perform

complex operations.
 3. ______ Both Al-Razi and Ibn Sina were Latin by birth.

4. ______ Muslim physicians did not know how to

perform operations.

5. ______ Muslims had outpatient clinics in the tenth

century.
B. Circle the letter of the correct answer.

1. What is an appropriate title for this text?

a. Mobile clinics in the Middle Ages

b. The influence of Islamic scientists on modern

medicine

c. Scientific terms with Arabic roots

d. The clinical symptoms of smallpox

2. In the ninth century, Al-Razi, “the Experienced,” was

the first to describe specific symptoms of a disease.
This was important because doctors could then
_________________.

a. write books about it

b. relate it to many eruptive fevers

c. diagnose it and predict its course

d. include them in their dairy

3. Al-Razi wrote an enormous encyclopedia that included

medical knowledge from _________________.

a. Greece and India

b. Persia and Syria

c. his own clinical observations

d. all of the above

4. One of Ibn Sina’s views that was advanced for his time
was that certain diseases _________________.

a. are spread by water and soil

b. are contagious

c. can result in loss of weight

d. cannot be cured

5. Islamic doctors were especially good in the field of

________________.

a. psychiatry
b. ophthalmology

c. cardiology

d. psychology

6. Ninth-century Muslim hospitals were

_________________.

a. quite similar in organization to modern ones

b. quite different in organization from modern ones

c. simple tents with all patients placed together

d. nonexistent; doctors made house calls instead

7. In the eleventh century, the Muslim solution to caring

for patients in remote areas was _________________.

a. the creation of pharmacies in all small towns and oases

b. traveling clinics that moved on the backs of camels

c. an emergency service that brought patients to the

doctor’s house

d. hiring doctors forever in those areas

 where the disease in not permanently prevalent.” (para.
7)

_______________________
___________________________________________
E. Word building

Complete the following table as required.

Vocabulary development
Medical Collocations

Practice 1.5 Match the word in column A with its complement in column B.
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line provided.
 A B
1. ticklish _______________ a. a drug
2. administer ____________ b. blood pressure
3. dislocated _____________ c. skin
4. sound ________________ d. shoulder
5. nutritious _____________ e. food
6. weak _________________ f. pain
7. sensitive ______________ g. advice
8. high __________________ h. eyes
9. watery ________________ i. heart
10. deep _________________ j. cut

Practice 1.6 Complete the following sentences using collocations from Practice
1.5.

1. I fell through a window once and suffered a ______________ in my arm.

2. I asked the nurse what to do and she gave me some really

__________________.

3. I thought I had broken my arm but the X-ray showed I had a

________________.

4. My grandfather had a ________________ all his life but he still lived into his
90s.

5. The doctor told me I had ________________ and should not eat any salty food.

6. I had a ________________________ in my back. It was the worst pain I had

ever experienced.

7. I always eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. It is important to eat

______________.

8. The doctor will ___________________ to the patient.

9. Can we go inside? This wind is giving me ____________________ and I can’t

see properly.

10. I have a _________________. I always put on sun block cream before I go

outside.
Practice 1.7 Match the words in column A with their collocates in column B.
Write the right answer next to the correct term in column A.

A B
1. terminally _____________ a. medical attention
2. excruciating _____________ b. weight
3. seek ___________________ c. tooth
4. life ____________________ d. surgery
5. contract _______________ e. consumption
6. regain _________________ f. consciousness
7. alcohol ________________ g. antibiotic
8. gain ___________________ h. intervention
9. splitting _______________ i. threatening
10. prescribe ______________ j. pain
11. surgical ________________ k. ill
12. primary _______________ l. malaria
13. plastic _________________ m. headache

Practice 1.8 Use six collocations from Practice 1.5 and Practice 1.7 in meaningful
sentences.

1. ____________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________________

6. ____________________________________________________________

Practice 1.9 What can the following words collocate with?

1. bedside _______________________

2. gain __________________________

3. clinical _______________________

4. biological ____________________
5. balanced _____________________

Academic Words
Study the following academic lists.

Academic List 1

Words Definitions
1. in-depth covering many or all important points of a subject
2. authority the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience
3. assess to evaluate or estimate the nature, ability, or quality of
4. factor a circumstance, fact, or influence that contributes to a result
5. vary to differ in size, amount, degree, or nature from something else in the same general class
6. body the physical structure
7. campaign work in organized and active way toward a goal
8. derive to obtain something from a specified source
9. significant sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy
10. respond do something as a reaction to someone or something

Academic List 2

Words Definitions
1. specifics concerned specifically with the item or subject named
2. theory a set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based
3. definition what is meant by a word, text, concept, or action
4. methodical done according to a systematic or established procedure
5. requirement a thing that is compulsory, a necessary condition
6. constituent a part of a whole
7. data facts and statistics collected together for a reference or analysis
8. underestimate estimate something to be less important than it really is
9. contextualize to place or study in context
10. major important, serious, or significant

Practice 1.10 Match the words in column A with their definitions in column B by
writing the letter of the correct answer next to the word in column A.
 A B
1. authority a. do something as a reaction to someone or something
____________
2. vary b. work in organized and active way toward a goal
_______________
3. campaign c. estimate something to be less important than it really is
__________
4. significant d. done according to a systematic or established procedure
_________
5. respond e. being a part of a whole
___________
6. methodical f. the power or right to give orders, make decisions and enforce obedience
________
7. constituent g. sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy
________
8. contextualize h. to differ in size, amount, degree, or nature from something else in the same
_______ general class
9. in-depth i. to place or study in context
___________
10. underestimate j. covering many or all important points of a subject
______

Practice 1.11 Complete each of the following sentences using the correct word
from the box.

1. The court held that the Ministry of Health has the _____________ to dismiss
medical doctors for malfunctions.

2. Scientists made an _____________ analysis of the cause of the disease.

3. His most _________________ medical achievement was the invention of a new

drug for Parkinson disease.

4. I’m going to a _____________ concert to support AIDS victims in Africa.

5. The new technique is being tried in medical laboratories to

_________________ the effects it may have on cancer patients.

6. One of the most important risk ________________ for breast cancer is age.
8. Obviously, one of the first _______________ to be a medical doctor is that you
be in an excellent physical shape.

9. According to anthropologists, there appears to be a universal _______________

of human beauty.

10. Current _______________ state that some types of cancer could be prevented
by taking certain precautions.

Focus on grammar
Singular and plural forms of medical terms
Most medical terms are derived from Latin or Greek origins. Most of them
maintain their original plural forms, a matter that adds an additional challenge in
learning these terms. Fortunately, plurals generally follow some basic rules that
enable learners, once they have mastered them, to quickly form proper plurals for
most medical terms that they may encounter. However, every rule has its own
exceptions. The following are some rules for changing medical terms from
singular to plural.

1. Words ending in “is”: change “is” to “es”

Singular Plural Meaning

diagnosis diagnoses determination of the cause of the disease (condition of complete knowledge)
analysis analyses separation of substances into their component parts
metastasis metastases spreading of the cancer
psychosis psychoses abnormal condition of the mind
prosthesis prostheses artificial part attached to the body

Exception: Sometimes the plural of a word ending in “-is”

is formed by dropping the “is” and adding “ides.”

Example: “epididymis” becomes “epididymides” (a highly

convoluted duct behind the testis, along which sperms
pass to the vas deferens)
2. Words ending in “us”: change “us” to “i”
Singular Plural Meaning
calculus calculi stone
bronchus bronchi bronchial tubes
nucleus nuclei nucleus
bacillus bacilli rod-shaped bacteria
stimulus stimuli something that evokes a response or a reaction

Exceptions
Singular Plural Meaning
fetus fetuses baby (second month of gestation)
sinus sinuses hollow cavity
virus viruses an ultramicroscopic infectious agent
viscus viscera an internal body organ
corpus corpora a dead body

3. Words ending in “ix,” “ex”: change “ix” or “ex” to “ices”

Singular Plural Meaning

apex apices pointed ends of an organ
appendix appendices a supplementary part of an organ
cortex cortices outer part of an organ
varix varices swollen veins
matrix matrices background substance mold

4. Words ending in “um”: change “um” to “a”

Singular Plural Meaning

bacterium bacteria bacteria
omentum omenta abdominal membrane
ovum ova egg cells
serum sera liquid
ilium ilia hip bone

5. Words ending in “a”: retain the “a” and add “e”

Singular Plural Meaning

vertebra vertebrae backbone
conjunctiva conjunctivae membrane over the front of the eye
bursa bursae sacs of fluid near a joint
patella patellae kneecap
pleura pleurae one of the two membranes around the lungs

6. Words ending in “oma”: retain “oma” and add “ta”

 Singular Plural Meaning
adenoma adenomata benign tumor of a gland
carcinoma carcinomata cancerous tumor of a gland
fibroma fibromata cancerous tumor of a fibrous tissue
sarcoma sarcomata cancerous tumor of a fleshy tissue
angioma angiomata a tumor composed chiefly of lymph and blood vessels

7. Words ending in “on”: change “on” to “a”

Singular Plural Meaning

spermatozoon spermatozoa sperm cells
ganglion ganglia group of nerve cells
protozoon protozoa single-celled animals

8. Words ending in “nx”: change “nx” to “nges”

Singular Plural Meaning

pharynx pharynges throat
larynx larynges voice box
phalanx phalanges bone of fingers or toes

9. Words ending in “ax”: retain the “a,” drop the “x” and add “ces”

Singular Plural Meaning

thorax thoraces chest

10. Words ending in “en”: change the “en” to “ina”

Singular Plural Meaning

foramen foramina opening passageways
lumen lumina central opening

11. Words ending in “itis”: change the “is” only to “ides”

Singular Plural Meaning

meningitis meningitides inflammation of the membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord
arthritis arthritides inflammation of the joint

12. The following terms are general exceptions.

 Singular Plural Meaning
pons pontes a band of nerve fibers in the brain
os ora (when referring mouth
(mouth) to mouths)
os ossa (when referring a bone (used chiefly in Latin names of individual bones, e.g., os
(bone) to bones) trapezium).
femur femora thigh bone
paries parietes hollow organ
cornu cornua • a horn-shaped projection of the thyroid cartilage or of certain bones
(such as the hyoid and the coccyx)
• either of the two lateral cavities of the uterus, into which the fallopian
tubes pass
paries parietes a wall of a body part, organ, or cavity, as of the chest or abdomen

In addition to correct spelling, students also need to know how to derive nouns
and adjectives from medical terms. Table 1.19 provides examples of suffixes used
to derive nouns.

Table 1.19
Noun Forming Suffixes
2. Give them a chance to ask questions or give feedback.

3. Be honest with yourself and audience. If you cannot answer a question, admit it,
and promise to look for an answer.

Practice 1.15 Select a topic and start preparing for making an oral presentation.
Get the topic approved by your teacher and proceed according to the guidelines
mentioned above.

Focus on writing
Health care professionals very often need to communicate in writing with each
other and with their clients. They need to write the patient’s history, physical
examination, progress note and discharge summary, research papers, and grant
proposals. Unfortunately, many of them encounter difficulty in communicating
effectively in writing. Therefore, teaching writing skills should be accorded
special attention in medical schools and programs in order to build up the
students’ writing competence. Each chapter in this book will focus on one writing
skill or more. In this chapter, students will be taught how to paraphrase
information from different sources.
Paraphrasing means borrowing the ideas of others and putting them in your
own words. To paraphrase means to re-write a phrase, a sentence, or more with the
same meaning but in different words. The skill of paraphrasing is essential for all
language skills: listening, speaking, writing, and reading. Furthermore, it
improves the quality of writing, its flow and readability. It also helps the student
to understand what he reads before he can convey the ideas of others into his own
words. In other words, it improves students’ comprehension because they cannot
paraphrase without prior understanding of the original text.
In the process of writing, students can benefit from a number of skills and
strategies. The following are some essential steps for effective paraphrasing.

1. Read the original text once or twice until you fully grasp its meaning.

2. Write the idea in your own words.

3. Make sure that your paraphrase accurately reflects the meaning of the original.

4. Put the words or phrases that you directly quote in quotation marks in order to
avoid plagiarism.
5. Write the author’s name, year of publication, and page number of the original
text.

Consider the following examples.

a. Original: “Paraphrasing is a very important skill for all language skills.”

Paraphrase: Being skillful in paraphrasing is essential for

learning listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

You can clearly notice the difference between the original

and the paraphrased version. The word “important” was
changed into “essential” and the phrase “language skills”
was replaced with four language skills. Furthermore, the
word order in the sentence was also changed.
b. Original passage:

“Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking

notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final
paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript
should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you
should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of
source materials while taking notes” (Lester, James D.
Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed., 1976: 46–47).

An acceptable paraphrase:

In research papers students often quote excessively, failing

to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. As the
problem usually originates during note taking, it is
 essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim
(Lester, 1976: 46–47).

This is an acceptable paraphrase because:

■ The phase “overuse direct quotation” was paraphrased

into “quote excessively.”

■ The original word order was changed. The paraphrase

starts with the phrase “In research papers....”

■ The meaning of the second original sentence was restated

in the writer’s own words.

■ The source and the page numbers from which the

paraphrase is taken are indicated at the end of the
paraphrase.

A plagiarized version:

Students often use too many direct quotations when they

take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final
research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the
final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So
it is important to limit the amount of source material
copied while taking notes.
This version is plagiarized because the same word sequence is used with almost
the same words. A few original words were replaced with their synonyms. No
citation is given to indicate the source of information.
What techniques can you use in order to paraphrase properly?
1. Replace some words in the original text with words that have similar
meanings (synonyms). However, be careful. Synonyms do not always have exact
meanings. For example, it is acceptable to say “large intestines” but not “big
intestines” although “big” and “large” are often given as synonyms.

2. Change the word order of a sentence by preposing certain parts and moving
others to the end of the sentence. You can, for example, start a sentence with the
main clause or the subordinate clause.

Example:

a. Students can improve their writing skills if they

receive adequate practice.

b. If students receive adequate practice, they can improve

their writing skills.

You have to make sure that the resulting sentence is

grammatically correct.
3. Change the part of speech of certain words.

Example:

a. The most effective way to become a skillful physician

is to receive adequate training on a regular basis.

b. The most effective way of becoming a skillful

physician is receiving adequate training regularly.

Can you see the changes? Describe the differences between

“a” and “b.”
4. Change active voice sentences into passive voice and vice versa.

Example:

a. To become a skillful physician, you must receive

adequate training.

b. To become a skillful physician, you must be trained

adequately.

Practice 1.16 Paraphrase the following sentences.

1. The student requested that the professor excuse her absence, but the professor
refused.

________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________
2. There will be a music concert next to Vienna coffee shop. Would you like to go?

________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________
3. International Center is hosting English Conversation classes. They help non-
native speakers of English practice their English speaking skills.
________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________
4. The office of International Students and Scholars at Purdue University is
located in Schleman Hall.

________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________
5. The car that was pulled over by the police officer yesterday just had an
accident. That driver is not careful.

________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________

Practice 1.17 Go back to the reading comprehension passage and paraphrase the
following paragraphs.

Paragraph 1

________________________________________________
_____________________
________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________
Paragraph 2

________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________

________________________________________________
_____________________

Pronunciation exercise
The following are the medical terms introduced in this chapter. You are supposed
to read them aloud as many times as you need to master their pronunciation. In
this activity, you are also required to give the meaning of each term in order to
retain them active in your memory.
Read the following medical terms and find out their meanings.

abdominal
abnormal

adduct

adenectomy

adenocarcinoma

amenorrhea

amniocentesis

analgesia

anemia

anesthetist

angiogram

antenatal

antibiotic

apnea

arteriorrhaphy

arthralgia

arthritis

arthroscope

arthroscopy

autopsy

bilateral

biologist

biopsy
xiphoid

Review exercises
A. Determine whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1. A medical term never has more than one root. _____

2. Some medical terms may not have a combining vowel. _____
3. Adding a vowel to the word may be necessary to make it easier to pronounce. _____
4. A vowel must always be present in a combining form. _____
5. Diagnosis is the complete knowledge of a patient’s condition. _____
6. Autopsy is the examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death. _____
7. Laparotomy is the removal of the abdomen. _____
8. Ophthalmoscope is the process of visually examining the eye. _____

B. Identify the root in each of the following terms and define it.

Term Root Meaning of root

1. cardiology_____________________________________________
2. gynecologist
_____________________
________________________
3. dermatitis _____________________
________________________
4. arthroscopy_____________________
________________________

C. Define the following medical terms.

1. neurology
____________________________________________
______

2. gastroenterology
____________________________________________
_

3. hematologist
____________________________________________
____
 4. hepatitis
____________________________________________
________

5. gastroscope
____________________________________________
_____

6. bronchoscopy
____________________________________________
___

7. cardiopathy
____________________________________________
_____

8. gastric
____________________________________________
__________

9. cephalic
____________________________________________
________

10. nephroma
____________________________________________
______
D. Spelling: Circle the correctly spelled term.
E. Match the roots in the first column with their meanings in the second one.

1. ren _______________ a. to breathe

2. gynec _____________ b. kidney
3. ot ________________ c. ear
4. thorac ____________ d. skull
5. arthr ______________ e. hip bone
6. spir _______________ f. chest
7. lapar _____________ g. skin
8. pelv ______________ h. joint
9. tox _______________ i. female
10. crani ______________ j. abdomen
11. dermat ____________ k. brain
12. encephal __________ l. poison

F. Circle the best answer.

1. Joint pain is

a. neural

b. arthralgia

c. nueralgia

d. neuralgia
2. The suffix that means visual examination is

a. -dys

b. -dia

c. -scopy

d. -ia

3. A malignant tumor of epithelial tissue is

a. sarcoma

b. carcinoma

c. anemia

d. nephroma

4. The root that means kidney is

a. pharyngo

b. rhin

c. rino

d. nephr
5. A gastrectomy is a/an

a. gastric resection

b. incision of a gland

c. gastroscopy

d. examination of the stomach

6. A combining form meaning cells is

a. cyst/o

b. cyt/o

c. cis/o

d. cyts

7. The suffix meaning “to view” is

a. -osis

b. -scope

c. -opsy

d. -scopy
8. The suffix that means abnormal condition is

a. -asis

b. -esis

c. -ia

d. -osis

9. The prefix that means behind is

a. exo-

b. dys-

c. re-

d. retro-

10. The suffix that means record is

a. -graph

b. -ia

c. -scopy

d. -gram
11. Tumor of a liver

a. arthrosis

b. arthroscope

c. adenoma

d. hepatoma

12. Prediction about the outcome of treatment is

a. prolapse

b. prognosis

c. diagnosis

d. psychosis

13. Which term relates to the neck?

a. thrombosis

b. cervical

c. cephalic

d. cerebral
1. Which of the following has a soft “c”?

a. card

b. pace

c. cap

d. recount

e. court

2. Which of the following has a hard “g”?

a. pager

b. geriatric

c. genius

d. good

e. generate

3. The correct spelling of the adjective for pharynx

is

a. pharnxeal
e. rhinitis

8. The word otorhinolaryngology is made up of

a. three roots

b. two prefixes and one root

c. three roots and one suffix

d. three prefixes and one root

e. three roots and one prefix

9. A root with a vowel added to ease pronunciation

makes a/an

a. adverb

b. combining form

c. suffix

d. foreign term

e. combining vowel