Medical Terminology – Reference List

iso or equi same

poly or multi many
oligo few
hemi or semi half
hypo below normal
hyper above normal
brady slow
tachy fast
neo new
post after
pre before
circum or peri around
intra inside/ within
inter between
sub below
retro behind, backwards
super, supra above, in excess
trans moving or situated across or through
endo inner
epi above, outer
exo outside
ante before, in front of
melan black
alb or leuk white
xanth yellow
cyan blue
erythr red
ab away from
a or an without, none
dys difficult, bad, abnormal
narc or hypn sleep
necr or mort death
lith stone
noct night
psych mind
cardi heart
phleb or ven vein
angi blood vessel
arteri artery
haem blood
trach trachea or windpipe
bronch bronchus (airways in the lungs)
pleur or cost ribs
pulmon or pneum lungs
gastr stomach
hepat liver
splen spleen
enter small intestine

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 Medical Terminology
col large intestine or colon
proct rectum
cholecyst gall bladder
cyst bladder
nephr or ren kidney
ur or urin urine or urinary system
oste bone
arthr joint
myo muscle
sarco connective tissue
cerebr or encephal brain
cephal or crani head or skull
nas or rhin nose
opthalm or optic eyes
oto or aur ear
gloss or lingu tongue
stomat or or mouth
bucc cheek
dent teeth
thorac chest or rib cage
abdomin abdomen
lapar abdominal wall
cervic neck
derm skin
neur nerves
orchid testis
mamm or mast breast
oophor ovary
hyster or metr uterus
salping uterine tubes
men menstruation
gyn women
natal or part birth
al Pertaining to
ac or ic Pertaining to
cyte cell
logy study of
ist Specialist, person
pathy disease, disorder
megaly enlargement
ptysis coughing
emisis vomiting
sclerosis hardening
itis inflammation
osis disease, condition
phasia speaking
phagia eating
pnoea breathing
uria urine
lepsy attack, seizure
lysis destruction, separation
plexy seizure, stroke

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 Medical Terminology
orrhea discharge
plegia paralysis
stasis stop
plasia growth
tony tension
trophy development
ectomy removal
opsy inspection, examination, biopsy
ostomy creating an opening
pexy fixation
plasty repair, reconstruction
scopy viewing with an instrument
tomy cutting, incising
tripsy crushing
gram or graph measurement of
centesis puncture
carcin prefix meaning cancer
onc prefix meaning cancer
-oma suffix meaning tumour
metastases a word meaning that there are secondary sites of
cancer (away from the primary tumour
benign a word meaning non-cancerous
malignant A word meaning cancerous
supine face up
prone face down
acute quick-starting, short lasting
chronic starts gradually, long-lasting
lateral towards the side of the body
medial towards the middle of the body
proximal closer to the middle of the body
distal further away from the middle of the body
superior situated towards the head, above
inferior situated toward the feet, below
U’s + E’s urea and electrolyte
LFT liver function tests
WBC white blood cell
RBC red blood cell
BMI body mass index
ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate
FBC full blood count
CSF cerebrospinal fluid
MSU mid-stream sample urine
HR heart rate
TPR temperature pulse respiration
Hb haemoglobin
ECG electrocardiogram
BP blood pressure
AVPU alert, voice, pain, unresponsive
CSU catheter specimen of urine
NAD nothing abnormal detected
PU passed urine
BNO bowels not opened
BO bowels opened

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 Medical Terminology
IM intra-muscular
IV intravenous
NG naso-gastric
SC subcutaneous
PR per rectum
U/S ultrasound
MUA manipulation under anaesthetic
EUA examination under anaesthetic
GA general anaesthetic
LA local anaesthetic
CBT cognitive behavioural therapy
CPR cardio-pulmonary resuscitation
NBM nil by mouth
CT computerised tomography
MRI magnetic resonance imaging
COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
CVA cerebrovascular accident
UTI urinary tract infection
TB tuberculosis
CHD coronary heart disease
CHF congestive heart failure
PE pulmonary embolism
DVT deep vein thrombosis
MI myocardial infarction
TPN total parenteral nutrition
TTO / TTA to take out (drugs) / to take away (drugs)
QDS four times a day
TDS three times a day
OD once daily or overdose
BD bi-daily (twice a day)
NSAID non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
OTC over the counter
PCA patient controlled analgesia
CD controlled drugs
BME black and minority ethnicity
BNF British National Formulary
ENT ears nose throat
MDT multidisciplinary team
MRSA methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus
NEWS National Early Warning Score
PPE personal protective equipment
LTC long-term conditions
PALS patient advisory liaison service OR paediatric
advanced life support
SALT speech and language therapist
A+E accident and emergency
GI gastrointestinal

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