English TerminologySecond semester

Lecture: 1

By:Ass. Lect. Hayman Sardar Abd.

B. Sc. Pharmacy

M.SC. Pharmaceutical Chemistry

• Medical terms are made of prefix, root, combining forms and suffixes.

ELEMENTS OF MEDICAL TERMS• Medical terms are made up of many different elements. The parts

of a word are as follows:

WORD ROOT• A word root or root word is the main part of a word. It may be a

complete word or is a part of medical term.• For example: (the word root is in italics)• tendonitis, spasm, mastectomy ( ectomy = cutting out)• In spasm, the main part of the word is a complete word, whereas in

tendonitis, and mastectomy the main part of the word is a word root.

Compound Words• Compound words are made of two or more words. Some examples

of compound words are: newborn, headache.

Combining Forms• The combining form makes the word easier to pronounce.• A combining form of a word root may be made by adding a vowel

to the word root. • The vowel o is most frequently used. The other vowels, a, e, i, and

u, are used less frequently.• Examples of the combining form: (The word root is in italic letters

and the combining vowel is in parenthesis).• bacteri(o)genic, glyc(o)hemia

• Other example: hyster/o (mean ing uterus) to salping/o (meaning fallopian tubes) along with the suffix -ectomy to form hysterosalpingectomy, (meaning the removal of both the uterus and the fallopian tubes). You will note that the combining vowel "o" is dropped when adding the suffix -ectomy since two vowels are not necessary.

• It must be noted that some vowels have a specific meaning and thus cannot be dropped without changing the meaning of the word. In this case the vowel is not a combining vowel but a word part.

• Example: hemi + opia = hemiopia (=absence of visual power in one half of the retina).

• hemi means ''half." while hem, hemo means ''blood,''

• So, it is important to know the difference between a vowel that is a combining vowel and a vowel that is a part of a root word.

• Combining forms are merely convenience forms and do not influence the meaning of a root word.

• Prefix• A prefix is a word part that is placed (fix) at the beginning or front

(pre) of another word or word part. A prefix may be a syllable, a group of syllables, or a word. It is joined to the beginning of a word to alter its meaning or to create a new word. 

• Example: • peri (around) + ocular (the eye) = periocular, which means ''around

the eye.˝• ad (above) + renal (kidney) = adrenal meaning ''above the kidney.˝• anti (against) + sepsis (infection) = antisepsis means against

infection.• In some instances a prefix which is added to the beginning of a

word may end in one of several different consonants depending on the consonants in the word parts that follow it.

• An example of this is the prefix in-, which means ˝without." The consonant n changes to the same consonant in the root word:

• Illegal, Immeasurable, illogical.

• Suffix• A suffix is a word part that is added (fix) to the end of a word or

word part. Examples:• - neuro (nerve) + tripsy (crushing) = neurotripsy ˝crushing of the

nerve.˝• - rhin (nose) + it is (inflammation) = rhinitis means inflammation

of the nose.• - glycohemia: the root glyc- means sugar or sweet with the

combining vowel "o" glyc- be comes the combining form glyco‑, the root hem- means blood the suffix -ia means state or condition, so glycohemia means sugar in the blood.

• - osteoarthritis. The combining form osteo comes from the root oste, meaning bone; the root arthr means joint or joints; and the suffix itis means inflammation. Therefore, the com pound word osteoarthritis means inflammation of the bone joints.

• - oto(ear) + rhino (nose) + laryngo (larynx) + logy(study of) = otorhinolaryngology, meaning the study of ear, nose and larynx.

• - electro (electricity) + encephalo (brain) + graphy (record) = electroencephalography, meaning the recording of the electrical activity of brain.

• (note : en = in , cephalo = head , encephalo = brain)

• - pseudo (false) + hypo (under) + para (beside) + thyroid (thyroid gland){both para + thyroid referred to parathyroid gland} + ism (condition or state) = pseudohypoparathyroidism, meaning a condition of false underactivity of the parathyroid gland.

• Pronunciation of medical terms• - ch is sometimes pronounced like k. Examples: chromatin,

chronic.• - ps is pronounced like s. Examples: psychiatry, psychology.• - pn is pronounced with only n sound. Examples: pneumonia,

pneusis.

• - c & g are given the soft sound of s and j respectively, when followed by e, i, and y. Examples: generic, giant, cycle, cytoplasm.

• - ae and oe are pronounced ee. Examples: caesarian, amoeba.• - i at the end of a word is pronounced eye (to form a plural).

Examples: alveoli, glomeruli.

• - Sounds like "si" • psy psychiatry • - Sounds like "c" • cy cystitis • sy symptom • si silicosis

• - Sounds like "dis"• dys dyspnea • des desmoid

• Plurals• Rule Example: Singular to Plural• A word ending in -a will keep the -a and vertebra to

vertebrae add -e for the plural. • A word ending in -ax, will drop the –ax thorax to thoraces

and add -aces for the plural form. • A word ending in -ex or -ix will drop these

letters and add -ices for the plural appendix to appendices form

• A word ending in -ma will sarcoma to sarcomata add -ta for the plural form. adenoma to adenomata

• A word ending in -is will drop the –is metastasis to metastases and add -es for the plural form

• A word ending in -on will drop the –on ganglion to ganglia and add -a for the plural form.

• A word ending in -us will drop the –us nucleus to nuclei and add -i for the plural form.

• A word ending in -um will drop the –um ovum to ova and add -a for the plural form.

• A word ending in -y will drop the –y biopsy to biopsies and add -ies for the plural form.

• A word ending in -nx will change the x phalanx to phalanges to g and add -es.

Thank you