medical terminology

bahamilton · Feb 22, 2011

Think of prefixes and suffixes as adjectives, and roots as the noun. Just like not every sentence has an adjective, not every word has both a prefix and a suffix. Prefixes ans suffixes just add clarity to the root you are using. It makes the word less general. Also, a root ALWAYS includes the "/connecting vowel" combination. A root cannot simply be a part of the word. Out of the several you posted, I'll break one down for you.

intraepithelial

Prefix - intra (within)

Root - epithel/i (epithelium)

Suffix - al (Referring to)

So, you get Epithelial - refering to within the epithelium.

Make sense?

Sugar-Phosphate · Feb 22, 2011

When you look at the word try and break up word parts. This of each term as a new word. When defining a word start at the end and go to the front of the word.

All words have suffixes (at the end) but not all words have prefixes.

e.g. dermatology dermat/o is a word root, meaning "skin"

logy is the suffix meaning "the study of"

So starting at the end, the word can be written as the study of the skin.

A combining vowel is used when either a word root or a suffix begins with a consonant.

e.g intravenous pyelogram, to break this down:

Intra = prefix within

ven/o=vein (word root)

us= identifies a singular noun (suffix)

pyel/o = renal pelvis ( word root)

gram = a record or picture (suffix)

so to read the word look at the suffixes first, then jump to prefix, then root word

us is singular so jump to prefix:

within vein, record renal pelvis

so a dye is injected into a vein (vein/o) to view the kidneys, ureters and bladder (renal pelvis and beyond) via an x-ray(record or picture)

I find it helps to look for the words in the middle to figure out what the root words are.

e.g cardiomyopathy

cardi/o; my/o; pathy

heart; muscle; disease = disease of the heart muscle

And lastly when stuck remember the rules:

1. not all words have prefixes but all have suffixes.

2. when a suffix or word root begins with a vowel, a combining vowel is not needed

3. use a combining vowel when suffix or word root begins with a consonant

there are many more rules, as you will probably remember from chapter one, but these two rules will make or break you.

I hope I have helped, I am currently taking medical terminology right now, so feel free to ask any questions.

Niki:cool:

Sugar-Phosphate · Feb 22, 2011

"

i have....

clinicopathologic, i broke it up into root-clinic/o root- path/o root-log suffix- ic should i have put clinic/o as a prefix insted? no, you do not need a prefix in a word, this word simply has multiple word roots

histopathologic. root- hist/o root- path/o root-log suffix-ic should hist/o be a prefix? again, this word does not have a prefix, it just has multiple word roots

intraepithelial- prefix- intra root-epithel suffix-al. would that be right with intra as a root? intra is a prefix because it is deifing a position or direction. prefixes are attached to words to express numbers (bi), measurements (hypo), position (ab), direction (ambi), negatives (contra-), and color (xantho-, chloro- purpuro-)

my problem is my book does not break down prefixes and roots... can anyone give me their opinion please.

any insight would be appreciated. that is the only part of the assignment i have left is breaking them up, they are already defined."

i hope this helps. and great job so far! :yeah:

niki

juniorminty · Feb 25, 2011

That part is difficult...luckily my book came with flash cards of all the prefixes and suffixes out there. Here is a list on wikipedia if that helps!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_roots,_suffixes_and_prefixes

CNA2day · Feb 26, 2011

Thank you to everyone who helped me out I really appreciate it! You guys rock!