Medical Terminology
Medical Terminology is a word stock, for exactly narrating the human body and corresponding parts, conditions, procedure and tasks in a science based manner.
Objectives to keep in mind to study Medical Terminology
There are three objectives to possess in notice as you learn medical terminology:
- First look over the medical terminology words by breaking them into parts.
- Associate the medical terminology word to the anatomy and natural purpose of human body. Because medical terms described in their actual conditions will be easier to remember.
Example: Hepatitis
‘Hepat’ means Liver and ‘itis’ means inflammation.
Hepatitis means Inflammation of Liver.
- Be aware of spelling and pronunciation problems, because some medical terms are identically pronounced but are meant inversely and also have different meanings.
For example: Ilium and Ileum
Both pronounced alike, but they have different meanings
Ilium – means a portion of hip bone and
Ileum – means part of small intestine
Easy steps to remember Medical terminology Words
Word Analysis:
It means separating the Medical terminology word into its element portions
The element parts are:
- Word root
- Prefix
- Suffix
- Combining vowel
Word root of Medical terminology words
The word root is a term obtained from a place of origin language (Latin or Greek) and usually narrates a body parts. The word root is the foundation of the Medical terminology words and all medical terminology words have 1 or more roots.
For example:
The root “ Hemat “ means blood
Word root list with examples
Prefix of Medical terminology words:
The prefix appears at the start of a word to change the word root with more information about the locality of body parts, the quantity of parts, or period tangled.
Example: Subgastric
Here “Sub is prefix which means “under”.
Prefixes list with examples
Suffix of Medical terminology words:
The Suffixes appears at the finish of a word root to improve original definition such as condition, illness, part of speech, or a procedure.
Example: Hematology
The suffix “-logy” means “study of”
Root “Hemat” means blood
Hematology means study of blood
Suffixes list with examples
Combining Vowel
(Typically O) It relates the root to the suffix or 1 root to another root.
Let us see few examples to analyze the medical terminology word by dividing them into component parts:
Medical Terminology Example 1: Hematology
First break the medical terminology word as shown below:
Hemat/o/logy
Hemat (Blood) – Word root
O – Combining vowel
Logy (Study) – Suffix
Hematology means Study of Blood.
Medical Terminology Example 2: Subgastric
Sub/Gastr/ic
Sub(Under) – Prefix
Gastr(Stomach) – Word root
Ic (Pertaining to/relating to)
Subgastric means pertaining to under stomach.
Medical Terminology Example 3: Electrocardiogram
Electr/o/Cardi/o/gram
Electr(Electricity) – Word root
O – Combining vowel
Cardi(Heart) – Word root
O – Combining vowel
Gram – Recording
Electrocardiogram means recording of electricity in the heart.
Medical Terminology Example 4: Gastritis
Gastr/itis
Gastr(Stomach) – Word root
Itis(Inflammation) – Suffix
Gastritis means stomach inflammation.