Overview
This lecture covers the basics of medical terminology, focusing on understanding prefixes, their meanings, and how they help decipher medical words.
Structure of Medical Terms
- Medical terms often have three parts: prefix (beginning), root (middle/core meaning), and suffix (end/meaning).
- The prefix describes characteristics like location, number, amount, or color.
- The root gives the main meaning, usually referring to a body part or system.
- The suffix often indicates conditions, diseases, procedures, or specialties.
Prefixes Indicating Quantity or Size
- mono, uni: one or single (e.g., unicycle)
- bi, di, diplo: two or double (e.g., biceps)
- tri: three (e.g., triceps)
- quad, tetra: four (e.g., quadriceps)
- semi, hemi: half or one side
- equa, iso: equal
- eu, normo: normal
- hyper: above normal/excess
- hypo: below normal/deficient
- a, an: absent/lacking
- pan, omni: all
- multi, poly: many
- micro: small
- macro, megalo: large
- oligo: few/little
Prefixes Indicating Color
- chromo, chromato: color
- alb: pale/white (e.g., albino)
- chloro: green
- cyano: blue (e.g., cyanosis)
- erythro: red (e.g., erythrocytes)
- glauco: gray/opaque
- leuko: white (e.g., leukocytes)
- melano: black (e.g., melanoma)
- polio: gray
- porphyr: purple
- rhodo: rose/red
- xantho: yellow (e.g., xanthochromia)
Prefixes Indicating Time and Speed
- pre: before (e.g., preoperative)
- post: after (e.g., postoperative)
- pro, ante: before
- re: again
- retro: backward
- neo: new (e.g., neonatal)
- chrono: time
- tachy: fast (e.g., tachycardia)
- brady: slow (e.g., bradycardia)
Prefixes Indicating Location or Position
- epi, hyper, supra, super: above/on
- sub, hypo, infra: below/under
- dextro: right side
- levo, sinistro: left side
- antero, ventro: front/anterior
- postero, dorso: back/posterior
- peri, circum: around/surrounding
- endo, intra, intro: inside/within
- exo, extra, ecto: outside/external
- ab: away from
- ad: toward
- trans: through/across
Prefixes for Middle, Side, Near, or Between
- meso, meta, medi: middle/midline
- lateral: to one side
- para: nearby/alongside
- juxta: next to
- inter: between
- ambi, amphi: both sides
- ipsi: same side
- contra: opposite/against
Key Terms & Definitions
- Prefix — start of a word, often describes characteristics
- Root — core meaning, usually a body part or system
- Suffix — end of a word, indicates condition, procedure, or specialty
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review this summary and try to match prefixes to meanings.
- Watch upcoming videos on roots and suffixes.
- Review previous material on common medical abbreviations.