HSC 113: Medical Terminology Learning Unit 1: Lecture

Introduction to Word Parts

Speaker: Heidi Jones

Current medical terminology that is in use in today’s world includes terms built from Greek and Latin
word parts. We also have terms are created from eponyms, and acronyms as well as the modern
language that we use in today’s medical field.
So what is an eponym? It is a medical term that is named for the person who was first to identify a
disease of a condition. So what is an acronym? It is a term formed from the first letters of the words in a
phrase. You will be required to memorize terms that are built from eponyms, acronyms, and modern
language terms.
So, let’s get started to view the basics of medical terminology –
The majority of medical terms are formed from four word parts.
• Word roots
• Suffixes
• Prefixes
• Combining vowels
Let’s take a moment to define each of the four word parts. The word root is the word part that is said to
be the core of the word and contains the fundamental meaning of the word. It is important to note that
each medical term will contain one or more word roots.
The suffix is a word part attached to the end of the word root to modify the meaning of the word.
The prefix is a word part attached to the beginning of a word root to modify its meaning. Keep in mind
that not all medical terms will have a prefix. A prefix can be used to modify the meaning of a word.
The combining vowel is a word part, usually an o, and is used to ease pronunciation of the medical term.
A combining vowel is used to connect two word roots and to connect a word root and a suffix.
There are four very important guidelines that are worth mentioning that must be followed for the use of
combining vowels:
• When connecting a word root and suffix, a combining vowel is used if the suffix does not begin
with a vowel.
• When connecting a word root and a suffix, a combining vowel is usually not used if the suffix
begins with a vowel.
• When connecting two word roots, a combining vowel is usually used even if vowels are present
at the junction.
• When connecting a prefix and a word root, a combining vowel is not used.
Another important component for this unit is the discussion of the combining form. The combining form
is a word root with the combining vowel attached which is then separated by a vertical slash.

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HSC 113: Medical Terminology Learning Unit 1: Lecture

The very last important component is how to define medial terms. First begin by defining the suffix
(which is the end of the term), then move the beginning of the term (which is the prefix) to complete
the definition.
For example, let’s look at the medial term osteoarthropathy. You would start with the suffix – pathy
which means disease. Then move to the beginning of the term oste/o – which means bone, and then on
to arthr/o – which means joint. So, you have a disease of the bone and joint.
We will continue this unit with the discussion of medical terms related to body structure, color, and
oncology.
Here’s a brief overview of the anatomy for our body systems. The structure of the human body is
divided into four basic categories – cells, tissues, organs, and systems. I will give you a term and then
provide you with a basic definition of the term.
Let’s start with the cell:
• The cell is referred to as the basic unit of all living things.
• The cell membrane is the boundary of the cell.
• Cytoplasm is the body of the cell which is the gel-like fluid inside the cell.
• The nucleus is referred to as the small round structure, which contains chromosomes for cellular
reproduction – the center of the cell.
• Genes – not jeans as in blue jeans – are regions within the chromosome that determine
hereditary characteristics.
• Deoxyribonucleic acid also known as (DNA) – each gene is made of a DNA-chemical that
regulates the activities of the cell.
The second category is tissue:
• Tissue is a group of similar cells that perform specific tasks.
• Muscle tissue purpose is to produce body movement.
• The purpose of nervous tissue is to conduct impulses to and from the brain. You will find
nervous tissue in nerves, the spinal cord and the brain.
• The purpose of connective tissue is to connect, support and encases various body structures.
Example of connective tissue include adipose and osseous. Adipose means fat and osseous
which means bone.
• The last type of tissue is epithelial tissue. Epithelial tissue serves the purpose of covering the
external surface of the body; it also forms membranes that line body cavities and is the major
tissue in glands.
The third category is organs:
• What is an organ? Organs are referred to as two or more kinds of tissues that together perform
special body functions.
The final and fourth is systems:
• A system is a group of organs that work together to perform body functions.

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The next topic to discuss is body cavities (known as the spaces within the body). There are five body
cavities:
• Cranial cavity which is located inside the skull (cranium), it contains the brain.
• Spinal cavity which is inside the spinal column, it contains the spinal cord.
• Thoracic also known as the chest cavity contains the heart, lungs, esophagus, trachea, bronchi,
and thymus.
• Abdominal cavity contains the stomach, intestines, kidneys, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen,
and ureters. Notice, I said ureters with an “s” which means two. Many people confuse the
urethra with the ureters.
• Pelvic cavity contains urinary bladder, reproductive organs, part of the large intestine, and the
rectum.
The following are common combing forms for body structure. I will pronounce the combining form and
then provide the definition.

aden/o gland
cyto/o cell
epitheli/o epithelium
fibr/o fiber
hist/o tissue
kary/o nucleus
Again, it is ok for us to think of some word associations to help us in the process of memorizing the
terms. For example, for kary/o, I think of the Karo Syrup that is thick and has lots of air bubbles. The air
bubbles would represent the nucleus. Growing up, I remember my Grandfather who lived with us,
would put this on his corn flakes for breakfast each morning.
lip/o fat (as in liposuction – we also had adipose that was fat as well)
my/o muscle
neur/o nerve
organ/o organ
sarc/o flesh, connective tissue
system/o system
viscer/o internal organs
cancer/o, carcin/o cancer
eti/o cause (of disease)
gno/o knowledge (“gno” is pronounced as “no”)
iatr/o physician, medicine, treatment

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HSC 113: Medical Terminology Learning Unit 1: Lecture

lei/o smooth (“lei” is pronounced as “li-o”)

onc/o tumor, mass
path/o disease
rhabd/o rod-shaped, Striated
somat/o body
The following are combining forms for color:
chrom/o color
cyan/o blue (for example, if a patient is cyanotic – they are blue)
erythr/o red (for example, erythrocyte – would be a red blood cell (RBC))
leuk/o white (then we would have a white blood cell (WBC))
melan/o black
xanth/o yellow
chlor/o green
Now, we will move on to prefixes:
dia- through, complete
dys- painful, abnormal, difficult, labored
hyper- above, excessive
hypo- below, incomplete, deficient
meta- after, beyond, change
neo- new
pro- before
The following are suffixes:
-al, ic, and ous all mean pertaining to
-cyte cell
Students tend to get the next three combining forms mixed up, so I have provided some helpful hints:
Let start defining some medical terms!

Carcinoma:
• We always start with the suffix which is oma which means tumor or swelling
• Then to the beginning for the term which is carcin/o which means growth of new cells
• So the definition for the term carcinoma means cancerous tumor

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HSC 113: Medical Terminology Learning Unit 1: Lecture

Neoplasm:
• Start with plasm which means growth, substance, formation
• Then neo which means new
• So the definition for the term neoplasm means new growth

Melanocarcinoma
• We have already had carcinoma which means cancerous tumor
• Then melano which means black
• So the definition for the term melanocarinoma is cancerous black tumor (malignant)

Myoma
• oma means tumor, swelling
• My/o means muscle
• So the definition for the term myoma is a tumor composed of muscle

Leiomyoma
• Oma means tumor, swelling
• Lei/o is smooth
• My/o is muscle
• So the definition for the term leiomyoma is tumor of smooth muscle

Leiomyosarcoma
• sarcoma always means malignant tumor
• Lei /o means smooth
• And my/o means muscle
• So the definition for leiomyosarcoma is malignant tumor of smooth muscle
There are also some medical terms that are not built from word parts, and cannot be correctly defined
by applying the meanings of the word parts. These terms are learned by memorizing the whole word
such as the following:
Benign — a tumor that is not malignant, nonrecurring and is favorable for recovery
Chemotherapy (chemo) — a treatment of cancer with drugs
Encapsulated — a tumor that is enclosed in a capsule, as with benign tumors
Exacerbation — an increase in the severity of a disease of its symptoms
Inflammation — a response to injury or destruction of tissue characterized by
redness, swelling, heat, and pain
Malignant — tending to become progressively worse and to cause death, as in cancer
Radiation therapy (RXT) — treatment of cancer with a radioactive substance, x-ray, or radiation
(radiation oncology or radiotherapy)

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HSC 113: Medical Terminology Learning Unit 1: Lecture

The following are some common abbreviations, and their meaning:

Ca carcinoma
chemo chemotherapy
Dx diagnosis
mets metastasis
Px prognosis
RBC red blood cell
XR radiation therapy
WBC white blood cell
The last portion of our lecture will cover directional terms, anatomic planes, regions, and quadrants.
This section is very important regarding positioning of the patient.
We will start right off with combining forms. I will provide you with the combining form as well as the
definition:
anter/o front
caud/o tail (downward)
cephalo/o head (upward)
dist/o away (from point of reference)
dors /o back
infer / o below
later / o side
medi/o middle
poster / o back, behind
proxim/o near (the point of reference)
super / o above
ventr / o belly (front)
The following are prefixes:
bi- two
uni- one
The following are suffixes:
-ad toward
-ior pertaining to

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HSC 113: Medical Terminology Learning Unit 1: Lecture

Here are directional terms, broken down:

anterior (ant) pertaining to the front
anteroposterior (AP) pertaining to the front and to the back
bilateral pertaining to two sides
caudal pertaining to the tail
cephalad toward to the head
cephalic pertaining to the head
distal pertaining to away from
dorsal pertaining to the back
inferior (inf) pertaining to below
lateral (lat) pertaining to a side
medial (med) pertaining to the middle
mediolateral pertaining to the middle and the side
posterior pertaining to the back
posteroanterior (PA) pertaining to the back and to the front
proximal pertaining to near
superior (sup) pertaining to above
unilateral pertaining to one side
ventral pertaining to the belly or front
Anatomic planes are imaginary flat fields used as points of reference to identify the position of parts of
the body:
Frontal or coronal— is referred to as a vertical field passing through the body from side to side,
thus dividing the body into anterior and posterior portions.
Sagittal — is a vertical field running through the body from front to back, thus dividing the body
into right and left sides.
Midsagittal — divides the body into right and left halves.
Transverse — is horizontal field dividing the body into upper and lower portions.
Anatomical Abdominal Regions:
Umbilical — around the navel (umbilicus)
Epigastric region —directly above the umbilical region
Hypogastric region — directly below the umbilical region

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HSC 113: Medical Terminology Learning Unit 1: Lecture

Hypochondriac region — to the right and left region of the epigastric region
Lumbar region — to the right and left of the umbilical region
Iliac region — to the right and left of the hypogastric region
Abdominopelvic Quadrants:
Right Upper Quadrant (RUQ)
Left Lower Quadrant (LLQ)
Right Lower Quadrant (RLQ)
Left Upper Quadrant (LUQ)

© Heidi Jones and Indian Hills Community College

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