Axia College Material

Appendix B

Building a Medical Vocabulary Ch. 1

Complete activities A, B, & C.

A. Use the word bank below to build the medical word that corresponds to each definition in
problems 1-8. Click the grey box to begin typing.

-ic sub- -ectomy -oma

-pathy gastr/o- poly- -ous
hepat/o- ven/o- hemat/o- neur/o-
an- esthes/o- -ous appendic/o-
-megaly cutane/o- -ia intra-

1. Pertaining to the liver Hepatic

2. Pertaining to underneath the skin Subcutaneous

3. Surgical removal of the appendix Appendectomy

4. Pertaining to within the vein Intravenous

5. Disease of many nerves Polyneuropathy

6. Enlargement of the liver Hepatomegaly

7. Swelling of the blood Hematoma

8. Condition of not feeling Anesthiosis

B. Define the following word parts.

-ac Pertaining to -ar Pertaining to

-ary Pertaining to -ion Action, condition

-osis Condition, abnormal condition, Peri- Around

process
Hyper- Above, more than normal Brady- Slow

Post- After, behind Anti- Against

Dys- Painful, difficult, abnormal Laryng/o- Larynx (voice box)

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C. In the following activity, break the medical word into its word parts. Using the word parts, create
a definition of the word. Write a sentence using the word in a medical context. Use the table to
record your answers.

Medical Word Prefix Combining form Suffix Definition

Etymology
Etym/o -ology The study of word origins.
Sentence: When learning medical terms it’s a good idea to learn there Etymology.

Mastectomy
Masto/o ectomy Surgical removal of the breast.
Sentence: My aunt has had a mastectomy when she was diagnosed with cancer.

Neuroma
Neur/o -oma Tumor or mass of the nerve.
Sentence: My cousin has had neuroma, a tumor bust on her.

Tachycardia
Tachy- Cardi/o -ia The condition of a fast heart rate.
Sentence: I take medicine for tachycardia because my heart rate is too fast.

Endotracheal
Endo- Trache/o- -al Pertaining to within the trachea.
Sentence: The hospital inserted an endotracheal tube in order to open the newborns airway.

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