un

Prefix Meaning Prefix Meaning

High – hyper+tention
a- Absent or lack of hyper-
(bp)

Low - hypotension
ab- Away from hypo-
( low bp)

abdomino- Referring to the abdomen hyster- Pertaining to the uterus

alb- White inter- Among

ad- Away from intra- Inside

White – leukocytosis –
angi-** Pertaining to vessels leuko- leuko+ cyto (cell) +
osis(condition)

ante- Before macro- Large

anti- Against micro- Small

arthr(o)**- Joint arthr + algia pain - my(o)- Muscle – myalgia

aud- Hearing necro- Dead

auto- Self neo- New

Brady - Slow brady+cardia Nephro/renal - Kidney

bronch- Air, airway - bronch+itis neuro- Nerve – neuro+logy

Bone - osteoarthritits –
calc- Stone - kidney calculus osteo-
osteo + arthro +itis

Disease
cardi- Heart rate path-
path+logy(study)

cerebro- Brain sarc- Flesh

chondr- Cartilage –chondr+itis- sub- Under

circum- Around super- Above

Skin – dermat+it is
derm- teno- Tendon – tendon+it is
(inflammation)

dys- Painful, difficult tachy- Fast – tachy + cardia

entero- Intestine – enterit+itis thrombo- Clot- thromb+osis

gastro- Of the stomach- gastr+itis trans- Across

hemi- Half trich- Hair

hepat- Liver – hepat+itis

Ab- Away from Abduction

Ad- Toward Adduction
Ecto-, exo- Outside Ectoparasite
Endoderm -
Endo- Inside endocrine
system
Epinenephrine
Epi- Upon

Word Meaning Example

Anterior or ventral At or near the front surface of the body “Anterior nerves”
Posterior or dorsal At or near the real surface of the body “Dorsal surface of the hand”
Superior Above “Superior (cranial) aspect”
Inferior Below “Inferior aspect”
Lateral Side “Lateral aspect”
Distal Farthest from center “Axons distal to the injury”
Proximal Nearest to center Proximal end of the forearm”

Word Body Part

Abdominal Abdomen
Buccal Cheek
Cranial Skull
Digital Fingers and toes
Femoral Thigh
Gluteal Buttock
Hallux Great toe
Inguinal Groin
Lumbar Loin (lowest part of the spine below the false ribs and between the hips)
Mammary Breast
Nasal Nose
Occipital Back of head/ scalp
Pectoral Chest
Sternal Breastbone
Thoracic Chest
Umbilical Navel
Ventral Belly

Prefix Meaning Example

Ambi- Both Ambidextrous
Dys- Bad, painful, difficult Dyslexia
Eu- Good, normal Eukaryote
Homo- Same Homogenous
Iso- Equal, same Isotope
Mal- Bad, poor Malnutrition

Suffix Meaning Example

-algia Pain My+algia
Hypoglycemia
– hypo +
-emia Blood
glycol(glucose)
+ emia
-itis Inflammation Bronchitis
-lysis Destruction, break down Dialysis
-oid Like Haploid
-opathy Disease of Neuropathy
-pnea Breathing Sleep apnea

Suffix Meaning Example

-centesis Puncture a cavity to remove fluid Amniocentesis
-ectomy Surgical removal or excision Hysterectomy
-ostomy A new permanent opening Tracheostomy
-otomy Cutting into, incision Gastrotomy
-orrhaphy Surgical repair or suture Gastrorrhaphy
-opexy Surgical fixation Nephropexy
-oplasty Surgical repair Rhinoplasty
-otripsy Crushing or destroying Lithotripsy

Suffix Meaning Examples

-algia Pain fibromyalgia, neuralgia

-cardia of the heart beat tachycardia, dextrocardia

-centesis puncturing and draining amniocentesis, pericardiocentesis

-cyte Cell lymphocyte, splenocyte

-ectomy surgery to remove appendectomy, tonsilectomy

-emia presence in the blood anemia, hypoglycemia

-genic Causing carcinogenic, pathogenic

-gram Recording cardiogram, mammogram

-iatrics/-iatry Specialty geriatrics, pediatrics, psychiatry

-itis inflammation arthritis, layrngitis, tendonitis

-lysis deterioration or destruction dialysis, paralysis

-ology science of necrology, pathology

-oma swelling, tumor blastoma, mesothelioma

-osis condition, disease progress diagnosis, prognosis

-otomy surgical incision lobotomy, tracheotomy

-oxia oxygen level anoxia, hypoxia

-pathy disease neuropathy, sociopathy

-phagia swallowing dysphagia, hyperphagia

-phasia speech aphasia, dysphasia

-philia/-philic attraction to hemophilia, hydrophilic

-phobia fear arachnophobia, agoraphobia

-plasty surgical repair angioplasty, rhinoplasty

-rrhea flow, discharge amenorrhea, diarrhea

-scopy exam with an instrument colonoscopy, endoscopy

Common terms assembled from the basic prefix/suffix combinations include the following:

Chondromalacia: Chondro- refers to cartilage; -malacia means “softening,”

so chondromalacia means “softening of the cartilage.”

 Arthritis: Arthr- refers to the joints; -itis means “inflammation,” so arthritis means
“inflammation of the joint.”

 Osteopenia: Osteo- means “bone,” and -penia means “deficiency.”

Therefore, osteopenia means “loss of bone.”

 Nephritis: Nephr- refers to the kidneys, and -itis means “inflammation.”

Therefore, nephritis means “kidney inflammation.”

 Myalgia: My- refers to muscles, and -algia means “pain.” Therefore, myalgia means
“pain the in muscles.”