PHAROS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ALLIED MEDICAL SCIENCE

MEDICAL TERMINOLOGYMGMT-201

Dr. Tarek El Sewedy

Department of Medical Laboratory Technology

Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences

LECTURE 3

By the end of this lecture, students will learn:

Basic rules for remembering and forming scientific terms

Intended Learning Outcomes

Lecture content• Structure of medical words.• Word Roots • Suffixes • Prefixes• Combining Forms • Tumour terminology• Singular and plural scientific terms

Scientific

Terminology• In this course students will have to learn and

remember extensive lists of complex terminology.• While each discipline will have terminology that is

particular to it, there are some common principles that apply to scientific terminology generally.

• The purpose of this course is to is to help students understand the origins of scientific terms and the way these terms are formulated in order to remember them better

Scientific Terminology

• Many of the words used in science have their origins in Greek and Latin words. If you know the meanings of the Greek and Latin roots of words, it makes them easier to remember.

• Similarly, as scientific words are often made up of several components, knowing these components, and in particular the ones that are commonly used in your discipline, will help you remember them or help you to work out their meaning.

• There are three basic parts to medical terms:

1. Prefix (comes at the beginning and usually identifies some

subdivision or part of the central meaning) .

2. Root (usually the middle of the word and gives the main

meaning)

3. Suffix (comes at the end and modifies the central meaning as to

what or who is interacting with it or what is happening to it)

SCIENTIFIC TERMS OFTEN USE PREFIXES AND

SUFFIXES TO PROVIDEADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO THE ROOT OF A TERM

OR WORD.

If you learn the key prefixes, root words and suffixes for your branch of science, you will be able to decode many of the technical terms you meet in your practical life.

Prefixes• A prefix is a word segment placed at the

beginning of a word. A prefix helps to change or define the meaning of the word.

• It is often an adjective or a description and can contribute its particular meaning to a word

Examples:• anti• Hyper• poly

Prefixes

• The Root often indicates a place or an organ . • Most root words are derived from Greek or Latin.• Examples:

• cardi —

• gastr —

• nephr —

• pseudo

suffixes• Found at the end of a word.

• It cannot be used alone,

• when added after a root it completes the word. Its function is to describe or explain the meaning or what is done to the root.

• Examples:

• ectomy —

• itis —

• ology —

suffixes

 Term

 Prefix

 Root

 Suffix

 Meaning

 bradycardia

 Brady-(slow)

 Cardia (heart)

   Slowness of the

heart 

hepatitis   

Hepat(liver)

 Itis

(inflammation) 

 

 Inflammation of

the liver

 ophthalmitis

   Ophthalm

(eye)

 Itis

(inflammation) 

 Inflammation of

the eye

 polycystic

 Poly

(many)

 Cyst

(abnormal sac)

   Many-cysts

 sublingual

 Sub-(under)

 Lingua

(longue)

   Under the tongue

 pharmacology

   Pharmakon(pharmacy

 Ology

(study of )

 Study of the

effects of drugs

Compound Medical Terms & words

• Are medical terms which is formed of Two or more roots.

• Examples:

• Cardioangiography = heart and blood vessels radiography

• Cardiomyopathy = heart muscle disease

• Postcardiotomy = after heart removal

Tumor Terminology• Adding -- oma (a swelling) to organ and tissue

word roots names tumors. Not all tumors are malignant (cancerous). Many are benign (not life-threatening).Aden/o = gland adenoma

Lip/o = fat lipoma

My/o = muscle myoma

Lymph/o = lymph tissue lymphoma

Carcin/o = malignant carcinoma

Osteo/o = bone osteoma

Common word structures

• In scientific terminology there are often common ways of forming words. While there are inconsistencies to general rules.

• knowing these common ways of structuring words can help you both learn and recall them.

• For example, the following are typical word endings that indicate singular or plural.

Exercise • What is this?• levator labii superioris alaeque nasi.

Assignments• Students on next slide are requested to prepare

a presentation (minimum of 7 slides) on any the following topics:

1. Blood terminology (including disease)

2. Kidney terminology (including disease)

3. Liver terminology (including disease)

4. Cancer terminology

Assignments should be delivered by next week

Students selected for assignments (Gp A)

الطيب السيد ابراهيم السيد ابراهيم

زايد مصطفى ابراهيم ابراهيم شحات ابراهيم

الساكت احمد سيد العاطى عبد العاطى عبد ابراهيم

الهابط مصطفى محمد محمد ابراهيم

السيد احمد فتحى السيد احمد

عيسى على السيد خالد احمد

قطب كامل رضا احمد

الهادى عبد رغيب العابدين زين احمد

عياد عابدين سامى احمد

نوير عطوه شحاته سعيد احمد

Study questionsWrite the suffix in each of the following words that means “study of,”

“medical specialty,” or “specialist in a field of study”:

1.dentist (one who treats the teeth and mouth)

2. neurology (the study of the nervous system)

3. pediatrics (treatment of children)

4. technologist (specialist in a technical field)

5. psychiatry (study and treatment of mental disorders)

Reference books1 – Medical Terminology an illustrated Guide by Barbara Jonson Cohen 2003

 2 – “Medical Terminology Simplified” F. A David 2009

 

3 – “Medical Terminology system : Approach Fifth Edition” Barbara A Gylys 2004