Guided Notes

Medical Terminology: Word Parts

Decode almost any medical word by splitting it into prefix, root, combining vowel and suffix.

Medical words are built from parts

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You don't need to memorize thousands of medical words — most are built from a few hundred Greek and Latin parts: • Root — the core meaning, often a body part: cardi (heart), gastr (stomach), oste (bone). • Prefix — at the start, changes the meaning: brady- (slow), tachy- (fast), hyper- (above/excess), hypo- (below). • Suffix — at the end, tells what about it: -itis (inflammation), -ectomy (surgical removal), -ology (study of). • Combining vowel — usually 'o', links parts: cardi + o + logy = cardiology.

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