Medical Terminology | 1 | Medical term parts

Summary

This lesson delves into the origins and structure of medical terminology, highlighting its roots in Greek and Latin languages. It explains the three main components of medical terms: prefixes, roots, and suffixes, which together convey the meaning of medical words. The lesson clarifies that not all terms contain all three elements and introduces combining vowels that link roots and suffixes. Examples are provided to illustrate how these components work together, such as 'Gastroduodenostomy' for a connection between the stomach and small intestine. The lesson also touches on unique terms like 'Virus' and eponyms like 'Alzheimer's disease,' setting the stage for further exploration of medical language.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Medical terms originate from early Greek and Latin languages, reflecting the ancient civilizations' contributions to the field of medicine.
• 🔤 Medical terms are constructed using three main word elements: prefixes, roots, and suffixes, although not all terms contain all three.
• 🌱 Roots provide the core meaning of a medical term, often identifying a body part or action, and can be modified by adding prefixes or suffixes.
• 🔗 Combining vowels like 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', or 'u' are used to join roots or combining forms to other elements in a medical term.
• 🔎 Multiple roots can share the same meaning, such as 'Pneumon' and 'Pulmon', both relating to the lung or air.
• 📚 Examples like 'Hemopneumothorax' illustrate how multiple roots and a suffix combine to describe a medical condition involving blood and air in the pleural cavity.
• 🔖 Suffixes modify the meaning of a root or combining form and can be categorized by their purpose, such as diagnostic, surgical, pathologic, or adjectival.
• 🏷️ Adjectival suffixes, of which there are 28, are used to describe a root and include examples like '-ac' in 'Cardiac', meaning 'pertaining to the heart'.
• 📌 Prefixes, such as 'epi-' for 'above' or 'bi-' for 'two', are added to the beginning of a root to indicate number, time, position, direction, or negation.
• 📝 Some medical terms, like 'Virus' and 'toxin', are 'solid' and cannot be broken down into elements; they must be memorized for their specific meanings.
• 👤 Eponyms in medical terminology are terms derived from a person's name, often to honor the discoverer or someone associated with a disease or medical concept, like 'Alzheimer's disease'.

Q & A

What are the origins of medical terms?

Medical terms generally derive from early Greek and Latin languages, as both the Romans and Greeks advanced the study and practice of medicine in ancient times.

Why are medical terms considered efficient?

Medical terms are efficient because they can reduce an entire phrase to a single word, such as 'Gastroduodenostomy' which represents a communication between the stomach and the first part of the small intestine.

What are the three word elements that make up medical terms?

Medical terms are made up of prefixes, roots, and suffixes. However, not all terms have all three parts.

What is the function of a root in medical terms?

The root provides the core meaning of the word and usually identifies a body part or an action.

Can you provide an example of a term with more than one root?

Yes, the term 'Hemopneumothorax' has the roots 'Hem' meaning blood and 'Pneum' meaning air or lung, along with the suffix '-thorax' meaning chest.

What is a combining vowel and why is it used?

A combining vowel is a vowel (a, e, i, o, or u) used to join a root or a combining form to another root or to a suffix, facilitating the formation of complex medical terms.

How do suffixes modify medical terms?

Suffixes are added to the end of a medical root or a combining form to modify its meaning and to change its part of speech.

Give an example of a diagnostic suffix.

The combining form 'Cardio' with the suffix '-graph' produces a medical term that is a diagnosis or a procedure to identify the nature of an illness, meaning an instrument used to record heart activity.

What is the purpose of prefixes in medical terms?

Prefixes are attached to the beginning of a root and indicate a number, time, position, direction, or negation, changing the meaning of the word.

What is an eponym in medical terminology?

An eponym is a word created from the name of a person, often used to name a disease, a test, or another facet of medicine after the person who discovered it, suffered from it, or contributed to it in some way.

Are there medical terms that cannot be broken down into elements?

Yes, some medical terms like 'Virus' and 'toxin' are solid and cannot be broken down into elements. They must be recognized and their meanings memorized.

Outlines

00:00

🔬 Introduction to Medical Terminology Components

This paragraph introduces the concept of medical terminology, highlighting its roots in ancient Greek and Latin due to the Romans and Greeks' significant contributions to the field of medicine. It explains the efficiency of medical terms, which can condense complex phrases into single words, such as 'Gastroduodenostomy'. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of understanding the components of medical terms, which are typically made up of prefixes, roots, and suffixes. Roots provide the core meaning, often identifying a body part or action, and can be modified by adding prefixes or suffixes. The paragraph also discusses combining vowels used to form combining forms of roots, which are essential for constructing medical terms. Examples are given to illustrate how roots can be combined with prefixes and suffixes to form complex medical terms, such as 'Hemopneumothorax', which describes the presence of air and blood in the pleural cavity.

05:03

📚 Deep Dive into Medical Term Components

This paragraph delves deeper into the components of medical terms, focusing on suffixes and their various functions. Suffixes modify the meaning of a root or combining form and can be categorized by their purpose, such as diagnostic, surgical, pathologic, and adjectival. Examples are provided for each category, illustrating how suffixes can change the term's meaning and part of speech. The paragraph also touches on prefixes, which are added to the beginning of a root and can indicate number, time, position, direction, or negation. Examples of positional, numerical, and directional prefixes are given. The paragraph concludes by mentioning solid medical terms that cannot be broken down into elements, such as 'Virus' and 'toxin', and eponyms, which are terms derived from a person's name, like 'Alzheimer's disease'. The paragraph ends with a preview of the next lesson, which will cover rules for analyzing, defining, building, and pronouncing medical terms.

Keywords

💡Medical Terms

Medical terms are specialized vocabulary used in the field of healthcare and medicine. They often derive from Greek and Latin languages, reflecting the historical contributions of the Romans and Greeks to the study and practice of medicine. In the video, the speaker explains that these terms are efficient as they can condense complex ideas into single words, such as 'Gastroduodenostomy' which describes a surgical procedure connecting the stomach to the duodenum.

💡Prefixes

Prefixes are word elements added to the beginning of a root word to modify its meaning. They often indicate a number, time, position, direction, or negation. For instance, the prefix 'epi-' means 'above' or 'over,' as seen in 'Epidermis,' which refers to the top layer of the skin. Prefixes are crucial in medical terminology as they alter the core meaning of a term.

💡Roots

Roots are the fundamental elements of medical terms that provide the core meaning, usually identifying a body part or an action. Roots can be expanded or modified by adding prefixes or suffixes. The video gives the example of 'Pneumon' and 'Pulmon,' both roots related to the lung or air, showing how multiple roots can share similar meanings.

💡Suffixes

Suffixes are added to the end of a medical root or a combining form to modify its meaning and change its part of speech. They can be classified by their purpose, such as diagnostic, surgical, pathologic, or adjectival. An example from the video is '-algia,' which means pain, used in 'Arthralgia' to denote pain in a joint.

💡Combining Vowels

Combining vowels are used in medical terminology to join roots or combining forms to other elements or suffixes. They help in creating smooth transitions between word parts, ensuring the term is pronounceable and coherent. The video mentions vowels like 'a,' 'e,' 'i,' 'o,' and 'u' as examples, illustrating how 'Pneum' becomes 'Pneumo' with the addition of 'o.'

💡Combining Forms

Combining forms are created by adding a combining vowel to a root, allowing it to be joined with other roots or suffixes. This process is essential for constructing complex medical terms. The video explains that combining forms are used to attach roots together or to a suffix, as seen in 'Hemopneumothorax,' which combines 'Hem' (blood) and 'Pneum' (air or lung).

💡Eponyms

Eponyms in medical terminology are terms derived from the name of a person, often to honor someone who discovered, suffered from, or significantly contributed to the understanding of a disease or medical condition. 'Alzheimer's disease' is given as an example in the video, named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer who first described the condition.

💡Diagnostic Suffixes

Diagnostic suffixes, when added to a root or combining form, produce terms that relate to the identification of an illness. They often refer to diagnostic procedures or tests. The video uses 'Cardio-graph' as an example, which refers to an instrument used to record heart activity, indicating a diagnostic tool.

💡Surgical Suffixes

Surgical suffixes are used to describe invasive surgical procedures. They are added to roots or combining forms to indicate a surgical removal or operation. 'Appendectomy,' meaning the surgical removal of the appendix, is provided as an example in the video, illustrating how the suffix '-ectomy' denotes surgical removal.

💡Pathologic Suffixes

Pathologic suffixes are used to describe symptoms or signs of a disease process. They are attached to roots or combining forms to indicate a pathological condition. The term 'Arthralgia,' meaning pain in a joint, is mentioned in the video, where '-algia' signifies pain, highlighting the suffix's role in denoting symptoms.

💡Adjectival Suffixes

Adjectival suffixes are used to describe a root and function as adjectives in medical terms. There are 28 such suffixes that mean 'pertaining to.' The video provides 'Cardiac,' meaning pertaining to the heart, as an example, showing how these suffixes are used to modify and describe the root word.

Highlights

Medical terms have their origins in early Greek and Latin languages due to the Romans and Greeks' contributions to medicine.

Medical terms are efficient, often condensing entire phrases into single words like 'Gastroduodenostomy'.

Medical terms consist of prefixes, roots, and suffixes, although not all terms contain all three elements.

Roots provide the core meaning of a medical term, often identifying a body part or action.

Prefixes expand the meaning of a root by adding to the beginning of the word.

Suffixes modify the meaning of a root or combining form and change its part of speech.

Combining vowels like 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', and 'u' are used to join roots or combining forms to other elements.

The term 'Neoplasm' is an example of a term with a prefix 'Neo-' meaning new and a suffix '-Plasm' meaning growth.

Multiple roots can have the same meaning, such as 'Pneumon' and 'Pulmon' both relating to the lung or air.

The term 'Hemopneumothorax' illustrates the use of multiple roots and combining vowels.

Suffixes are categorized by purpose, including diagnostic, surgical, pathologic, and adjectival.

Diagnostic suffixes are used to identify the nature of an illness, like '-graph' in 'Cardiography'.

Surgical suffixes describe invasive procedures, such as '-ectomy' in 'Appendectomy'.

Pathologic suffixes describe symptoms or signs of disease, like '-algia' in 'Arthralgia'.

Adjectival suffixes describe the root, such as '-ac' in 'Cardiac' meaning pertaining to the heart.

Noun suffixes like '-iatry' indicate treatment or medical specialty, e.g., 'Psychiatry'.

Prefixes indicate number, time, position, direction, or negation, and modify the term's meaning.

Some medical terms, like 'Virus' and 'toxin', are solid and cannot be broken down into elements.

Eponyms are medical terms derived from a person's name, such as 'Alzheimer's disease'.

The next lesson will cover rules for analyzing, defining, building, and pronouncing medical terms.

Transcripts

Hello everyone and welcome

in this lesson we are going to talk about the components of medical terms

let's get started

medical terms generally derive from the early Greek and Latin languages

because in ancient times both the Romans and the Greeks advanced the study and practice of medicine

they named anatomical structures diseases and treatments in their own languages

these Latin and Greek words remain a part of medical language today

it is also efficient although some of the terms are long they often reduce an entire phrase to a single word

the one word "Gastroduodenostomy" for example

stands for "a communication between the stomach and the first part of the small intestine "

this word might seem complex

but by splitting it into its components it will be more familiar

and this is what we are going to learn in this lesson

medical terms are made up of three word elements prefixes roots and suffixes

but not all terms have all three parts

let's talk about each component and details and begin with roots

roots are the element that provide the core meaning of the word

and they usually identify a body part or an action

you can expand a root and change its meaning

by adding a prefix before the word or a suffix after the word

roots appear anywhere in the term

medical terms have one or more roots or even not at all

as in the term "Neoplasm"

where "Neo-" is a prefix meaning new and "-Plasm" is a suffix meaning growth

and the term means new growth

more than one root can have the same meaning

as the root "Pneumon" taken from the Greek word meaning lung or air

also the root "Pulmon" taken from the latin word means longer air

because roots are often joined to other elements in a medical term

we add a combining vowel to create a combining form

such as the letter "O" to the end of the root like "Pneum" to form "Pneumo"

any vowel like "a, e, i, o or u" can be used as a combining vowel

like the root "Respir" means to breathe

adding the combining vowel "a" makes the combining form "Respira"

so we use combining forms to attach a root to another one

or to another combining form and before a suffix

an example of a term with more than one root the word "Hemopneumothorax"

it has the root "Hem" from the Greek word meaning blood

and the root "Pneum" from the Greek word meaning air or lung

and the suffix "-thorax" from the Greek word meaning chest

the combining vowel "O" is added to these two roots to make the combining forms "Hemo" and "Pneumo"

and a combining vowel is used to join the root "Pneum" to the suffix "-thorax"

and "Hemopneumothorax" is the presence of air and blood in the space that surrounds the lungs in the chest

as blood and air fill the pleural cavity

the lungs cannot expand and respiration is not possible

thus forcing the affected lung to collapse

next we are going to talk about suffixes

a suffix is added to the end of a medical root or a combining form to modify its meaning

and to change its part of speech and most medical words contain a suffix

medical suffixes can be organized by their purpose or function

such as diagnostic, surgical, pathologic, and descriptive or adjectival

you don't have to memorize all of these suffixes now

the suffixes will reappear during your study

but we will give you some examples of some suffix classes

for the diagnostic suffixes when added to a root or a combining form

produces a medical term that is a diagnosis or a procedure or test to identify the nature of an illness

for example the combining form "Cardio" plus the suffix "-graph"

which means an instrument used to record heart activity

and for the surgical suffixes when added to a root or a combining form

they produce medical terms that describe the invasive surgical procedure performed on the body

as in the term "Appendectomy" the suffix "-ectomy" means surgical removal

and the term means surgical removal of the appendix

and for the pathologic suffixes when added to a root or combining form

this type of suffix produces a medical term that describes a symptom or sign of a disease process

for example the term "Arthralgia" the suffix "-algia" means pain and the term means pain in a joint or joints

for the adjectival suffixes

there are 28 suffixes that mean pertaining to

these suffixes are used as adjectives to describe the root

an example of adjectival suffixes is the suffix "-ac"

as in the term "Cardiac" which means pertaining to the heart

several suffixes do not fall under any of the earlier classifications

but maintain the root or combining form as a noun

these are nouns suffixes like the suffix "-iatry"

which means treatment or medical specialty as in the term "Psychiatry"

which means diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders

next we are going to talk about prefixes

a prefix is a word element attached to the beginning of a root and do not require combining vowels

however not all medical terms have a prefix

adding or changing a prefix changes the meaning of the word

prefixes usually indicate a number, time position, direction or negation

and prefixes can be grouped according to their descriptive function

an example of prefixes of position is the prefix "epi-" which means above over are upon

as in the term "Epidermis" which means the top layer of the skin

and an example of prefixes of number and measurement the prefix "bi-" which means two, twice or double

as in the term "Bilateral" which means pertaining to or related to two sides of the body

an example of prefixes of direction and location the prefix "ab-"

which means away from. as in the term "Abduction" which means action of moving away from the midline

there are another classes of prefixes but like the other

word parts that you have studied they will appear and reappear during your study

some medical terms are solid and cannot be broken down into elements

examples are "Virus" a Latin word meaning poison and "toxin" a Greek word meaning poison

though they have the same meaning in their original language when they are

converted to modern medical language they have very different meanings

these solid words have to be recognized and their meanings memorized

last thing you should know is that medical terminology also includes eponyms

and an eponym is a word that is created from the name of a person

a medical eponym is Created by naming a disease a test or another

facet of medicine for the person who discovered it suffered from it or in

some other way contributed to it by way of a legacy and an example of eponyms is

"Alzheimer's disease"

and to summarize we agreed that medical terms generally derive from the early Greek and Latin languages

medical word parts are root and a prefix before the root or a suffix after the root

and because roots are often joined to other elements in a medical term

we add a combining vowel to create a combining form

combining vowels are a, e, i, o and u.

and used to join a root or a combining form to another or to a suffix

combining form is root + combining vowel

a suffix is added to the end of a medical root or a combining form to modify its meaning

a prefix is a word element attached to the beginning of a root

there are some unique medical terms that cannot be broken down into elements like the term "Virus"

an eponym is a word that is created from the name of a person like "Alzheimer's disease"

next lesson we are going to talk about rules for analyzing, defining, building and pronouncing medical terms

see you there

You can download an MP3 and PDF summary from the description box below ^_^