Lecture 1 Medical Terminology

Foundation of Medicine Lec 1 Professor Dr Monem Alshok 22/11/2014
Most Medical Terms come from Greek ( Diagnosis & Surgery ) or Latin Language (Anatomical terms)
Pretest Questions in Med Terminology :Choose one correct choice : Q1 . All MT have :
A.Suffix
B.Prefix
C.Root
D.Vowel
Q2 . The Word Root in Tonsillitis is
A . –itis
B. Tonsill-
C . –sill
Q3 . The suffix in Physiology is ;
A . Logy
B . physi-
C . O
Q 4 . Divide into components of word part
Suffix Combining Vowel Root Medical Terms
Cardiology
Histology
Mammography
Bronchoscopy
Pneumonia
Arthritis
Oncology
Inguinal

Q5 . Fasciotomy is an example of
A . Simple Word
B . Compound word
C . Combining word
Q6 . When you make Analysis of the word begin with:
A . Beginning
B . End of word
C .Middle
Q 7 . Adding Vowel to the word results in
A . Prefix
B . Suffix
C . Combining form
D . Complex word
Q 8 . The term Gastroenterology has :
A . Two Root B . One Root C . Three root
Q 9 . One combination do not need a combining Vowel :
A . Dermat + itis
B . Dermat + logy
C . Micr + Scopy
Q10 . Which one of the following symbols used when we divide the medical term into their word parts ?
A . / B . = C . ----- D . ;
Basic Elements of a Medical Word include (These four parts of a word are known as ELEMENTS) :
Word Root , Combining Form , Suffix , Prefix
Word Root : Main part or foundation of a word. All words have at least one word root. A word root may be used alone or combined with other elements to form a complete word. The word root usually refers to a body part.
Some root words are derived from the Latin or Greek language
e. g. SPEAK (word root) + ER (suffix) = SPEAKER (complete word),
Teacher ( Root is Teach , er Suffix one who )



Example Term Meaning Root Greek( G ) Word & Latin( L ) Word
Dermatos G
Nephros G
Stoma G
Cutis L
Oris L
Renes L


Word Root Examples
“dent” means tooth
“dermat” means skin
“cardi” means heart
“gastr” means stomach
“pancreat” means pancreas
Combining Forms: Correct pronunciation of medical words is important. In order to make the pronunciation of word roots easier, sometimes it is necessary to insert a vowel after the root. The combination of a word root and a vowel is known as a COMBINING FORM.
Combining forms consist of a combining vowel. The combining vowel is usually an “o”, but others may be used.
IE: gastr / o pronounced GASTRO
Defining Medical Words: Here are the three basic rules for defining medical words using the example term gastroenteritis.
Rule No. 1 Define the suffix, or last part of the word. In this case, -itis, which means inflammation. Rule No. 2 Define the first part of the word (which may be a word root, combining form, or prefix). In this case, the combining form gastr/o means stomach. Rule No. 3 Define the middle parts of the word. In this case, enter/ means intestine
When you analyze gastroenteritis following the three previous rules, the meaning is revealed as:
1. inflammation (of) 2. stomach (and) 3. intestine
Thus, the definition of gastroenteritis is “inflammation (of) stomach (and) intestine.”