How the Unit 10 Word List Was Built

Etymology Prefix1 Prefix2 "Pre-Root" "Pre-Root" Root Root "Post-Root" Suffix1
Word End
Suffix2
Word End
Word
abdomin/o centesis abdominocentesis
abdomin/o plasty abdominoplasty
Cancer of the glands in the breast, stomach, prostate, lung, pancreas, colon, & rectum aden/o carcin oma adenocarcinoma
aero dont algia aerodontalgia
aliment ary alimentary
amyl ase amylase
an[us] al anal
an hydr[o] ase anhydrase
ano phony anophony
ano plasty anoplasty
ano sigmoid/o scopy anosigmoidoscopy
ant acid antacid
anti eme[sis]/t ic antiemetic
anus anus
a phag ia aphagia
a[d] scend[ere] ing ascending
From Greek askos referring to a bag made from goat skin used to hold wine ascites
bar iatr ics bariatrics
bile bile
bil/i genesis biligenesis
bil/i rub[er] in bilirubin
bil/i verd in biliverdin
Latin bucca, "cheek" bucc[a] al buccal
canal icul us canaliculus
German peptid, from German Pepton & Greek pepton, "digested" carboxy[l] peptid ase carboxypeptidase
cardia cardia
Greek katharsis, "purging, cleaning" cathar/t ic cathartic
caud[a] ate caudate
Latin cœliacus, Greek koiliakos, "bowels" celi ac celiac
celio my/o/s itis celiomyositis
celio pathy celiopathy
celio tomy celiotomy
cement um cementum
chol ang/i/o gastr/o stomy cholangiogastrostomy
chol ang/i/o gram cholangiogram
chol ang/i/o graphy cholangiography
chol ang/i/o oma cholangioma
a procedure for visualizing the anatomy of the bile ducts and pancreatic ducts chol ang/i/o pancreat/o graphy cholangiopancreatography
chol ang itis cholangitis
chol cyst algia cholecystalgia
chol/e cyst ectomy cholecystectomy
chol/e cyst itis cholecystitis
chol/e cyst/o cysto gram cholecystogram
chol/e cyst/o kin in cholecystokinin
chol/e doch/o cele choledochocele
chol/e doch/o enter/o stomy choledochoenterostomy
chol/e doch/o lith ectomy choledocholithectomy
common bile duct Greek choledocho "bile duct" chol/e doch/o lith iasis choledocholithiasis
chol/e doch/o tomy choledochotomy
chol/e lith cholelith
chol/e lith iasis cholelithiasis
chol/e lith/o tomy cholelithotomy
chol/e lith/o tripsy cholelithotripsy
chyme chyme
chym/o trypsin chymotrypsin
Greek kirros, "red-yellow, yellow-brown". The "h" is a mistake. cirrh osis cirrhosis
col ectomy colectomy
col itis colitis
colon colon
colon ectomy colonectomy
colon/o scopy colonoscopy
col/o rect al colorectal
col/o stomy colostomy
col/o vagin al colovaginal
Latin com + iugare, "to yoke together" con jug[are] ated conjugated
Latin "to crowd [feces] together" con stipa[re] tion constipation
cyst[o] ic cystic
Latin deciduus, "that which falls down", referring to leaves, petals, teeth, etc. decidu ous deciduous
de fec[es] ation defecation
Latin deglutitionem, "to swallow down" de gluti[re] tion deglutition
dent algia dentalgia
Latin dens, "tooth" + fricare, "rub" denti frice dentifrice
dent in dentin
dent ist dentist
dent istry dentistry
de scend[ere] ing descending
dia rrhea diarrhea
Latin digerere (dis + gerere), "separate, divide, arrange" digest ive digestive
Latin deverticulum, "a bypath" diverticul itis diverticulitis
diverticul osis diverticulosis
duoden ectomy duodenectomy
duoden itis duodenitis
Shortening of Latin duodenum digitorum, "space of twelve digits", after Greek physician (c. 300 BC) Herophilus who called it dodkadaktylon duoden um duodenum
dys enter y dysentery
dys peps ia dyspepsia
elast [in] ase elastase
Greek emesis, "vomiting" emesis emesis
French en– + amailler, shortened to émail (as in "covering in chain mail"); "mail" ultimately comes from Latin macula because chain mail armor looked spotted en amel enamel
enter ectomy enterectomy
enter ic enteric
enter/o cele enterocele
enter/o cyte enterocytes
enter/o dynia enterodynia
enter/o endo crine enteroendocrine
enter/o pathy enteropathy
enter/o rrhaphy enterorrhaphy
enter/o tomy enterotomy
epi gastr ic epigastric
esophag algia esophagalgia
esophag eal esophageal
esophag ectomy esophagectomy
esophag itis esophagitis
esophag/o gastr/o duoden/o scopy esophagogastroduodenoscopy
esophag/o gastr/o plasty esophagogastroplasty
esophag/o scopy esophagoscopy
eu glyc emia euglycemia
eu peps ia eupepsia
Latin falx, "sickle" falc iform falciform
fec[es] al fecal
Latin fæces, "sediment, dregs" which entered English in 17th century. The word for "feces" in Latin was "caca". feces feces
fil[um] iform filiform
Latin fistula, "pipe, flute" fist ula fistula
Latin flatus, "a blowing" (from the bowels) flatus flatus
foli[um] ate foliate
fundus fundus
fungi form fungiform
gall bladder gallbladder
gastr algia gastralgia
gastr ectomy gastrectomy
gastr ic gastric
gastr itis gastritis
gastr/o duoden/o scope gastroduodenoscope
gastr/o duoden/o stomy gastroduodenostomy
gastr/o dynia gastrodynia
gastr/o enter itis gastroenteritis
gastr/o enter/o col itis gastroenterocolitis
gastr/o enter/o logist gastroenterologist
gastr/o enter/o logy gastroenterology
gastr/o enter/o stomy gastroenterostomy
gastr/o esophag eal gastroesophageal
gastr/o intestin[e] al gastrointestinal
gastr/o jejun/o stomy gastrojejunostomy
gastr/o malacia gastromalacia
gastr/o paresis gastroparesis
gastr/o pexy gastropexy
gastr/o plasty gastroplasty
gastr/o scope gastroscope
PIE ghrel, "to grow", but doing double-duty as an acronym for growth hormone-releasing polypeptide ghrel in ghrelin
gingiv algia gingivalgia
gingiv ectomy gingivectomy
gingiv itis gingivitis
gingiv/o gloss itis gingivoglossitis
gingiv/o plasty gingivoplasty
gingiv/o stomat itis gingivostomatitis
gloss/o pathy glossopathy
gloss/o plasty glossoplasty
gloss/o plegia glossoplegia
gloss/o rrhaphy glossorrhaphy
gloss/o tomy glossotomy
gloss/o trich ia glossotrichia
gluc agon glucagon
gluc uronic glucuronic acid
Latin haustrum, "scoop for drawing water" haustrum haustrum
gingiv/o stomat itis hematemesis
heme heme
hemi col ectomy hemicolectomy
Greek haimorrhoides, "[veins] likely to discharge blood" hemorrhoid hemorrhoid
hemorrhoid ectomy hemorrhoidectomy
hepat ectomy hepatectomy
hepat ic hepatic
hepatic/o gastr/o stomy hepaticogastrostomy
hepatic/o tomy hepaticotomy
hepat itis hepatitis
hepat/o carcin oma hepatocarcinoma
hepat/o cyte hepatocytes
hepat oma hepatoma
hepat/o malacia hepatomalacia
hepat/o megaly hepatomegaly
hepat/o hepat/o pancr/e/at ic hepatopancreatic
hepat/o pexy hepatopexy
hepat/o ptosis hepatoptosis
hepat/o sclerosis hepatosclerosis
hepat/o splen itis hepatosplenitis
hepat/o splen/o megaly hepatosplenomegaly
Latin hernia, "rupture" hernia hernia
herni/o rrhaphy herniorrhaphy
hyper emesis hyperemesis
hypo chondr iac hypochondriac
hypo gastr ic hypogastric
hypo gloss al hypoglossal
Greek ikteros, "jaundice", but also the name of a yellow bird that was supposed to cure jaundice by picking up the yellow color and then dying icterus icterus
ile itis ileitis
Latin intestinum cæcum, "blind gut" ileo cec[um] al ileocecal
ileo col itis ileocolitis
ileo colo stomy ileocolostomy
ileo rrhaphy ileorrhaphy
ileo stomy ileostomy
ileo tomy ileotomy
ili[a] um ileum
in gest[us] ion ingestion
inguin al inguinal
Latin insula, "island" (i.e. islets of Langerhans) insul[a] in insulin
insul[a] in/o tropic insulinotropic
intestin[e] al intestinal
islet islet
French jaunice, "yellowness", with "d" added for no particular reason jaundice jaundice
jejun itis jejunitis
jejun/o ile itis jejunoileitis
jejun/o rrhaphy jejunorrhaphy
jejun/o stomy jejunostomy
jejun/o tomy jejunotomy
jejunum jejunum
labi[a] al labial
lact eal lacteal
lamina propria lamina propria
laparo cele laparocele
laparo enter/o stomy laparoenterostomy
laparo scope laparoscope
laparo scopy laparoscopy
laparo tomy laparotomy
lingual lingual
lip ase lipase
liver liver
lob[e] ule lobule
lumb ar lumbar
Latin lumen, "light" (i.e., a passageway; the part of a tube-like structure you can see light through) lumen lumen
lyso zyme lysozyme
macro cyte macrocyte
Latin absorptionem, "a swallowing" mal absorption malabsorption
Mes–, "middle" + –enter[on], "intestine" mes enter ic mesenteric
mes[os] ial mesial
mucosa mucosa
muscular is muscularis
my enter ic myenteric
nas/o gastr ic nasogastric
occlus[us] al occlusal
Both the Latin dont and Greek odont are based on PIE əd-ent "uhd-ent" sound (which means "biting"), and there is no real logic which is which in Medical English odont algia odontalgia
odont ectomy odontectomy
odont/o clasis odontoclasis
odont/o dynia odontodynia
or al al oral
ortho dont ic orthodontic
ortho dont ist orthodontist
oxy gen oxygenase
pancreato duoden ectomy pancreatoduodenectomy
pancreato lith pancreatolith
pancreato lith ectomy pancreatolithectomy
pancreato lith iasis pancreatolithiasis
pariet al parietal
par[a] oti[s] d parotid
pancreato graphy pancreatography
Greek peptikos, "able to digest". Pepsin and trypsin were the first two enzymes discovered and do not follow the normal naming convention of ending in –ase. peps in pepsin
pepsin/o gen pepsinogen
peri odont al periodontal
peri odont itis periodontitis
peri stalsis peristalsis
periton/eo scopy peritoneoscopy
periton/eo tomy peritoneotomy
Latin peritonæum, "part stretched over" peritoneum peritoneum
periton itis peritonitis
Latin pernicies, "death, destruction, ruin", related to per– ("complete") + noxi ("harm") pernici[es] ous pernicious
plica circularis plicae circulares
proct itis proctitis
proct/o logist proctologist
proct/o logy proctology
proct/o pexy proctopexy
proct/o ptosis proctoptosis
proct/o scope proctoscope
propria propria
propuls ion propulsion
purg ative purgative
Greek pylōros, "gatekeeper" (pylē "gate, pylon" + ouros "watcher, guardian") pylor[us] ic pyloric
pylorus pylorus
quadrate quadrate
rect algia rectalgia
rect itis rectitis
rect/o pexy rectopexy
rect/o plasty rectoplasty
Latin intestinum rectum, "straight part of bowel", because it is the straight segment of the bowel (this is a Latin translation of Galen's Greek name apeuthysmeon enteron, because he only dissected animals with truly straight rectums) rectum rectum
Latin fluxus, "flowing" re flux reflux
saliva saliva
scleros ing sclerosing
secret[ion] in secretin
segment ation segmentation
serosa serosa
Sial/o is "saliva"; sialadeno- is the salivary gland sial aden ectomy sialadenectomy
sial aden itis sialadenitis
sial aden osis sialadenosis
Sialo– + Greek agōgós, "leading" (as in pedagogy) sial agog ic sialagogic
sial/o aden ectomy sialoadenectomy
sial/o aden itis sialoadenitis
sial/o aden osis sialoadenosis
sial/o angi ectasis sialoangiectasis
sial/o lith sialolith
sial/o lith iasis sialolithiasis
sial/o lith/o tomy sialolithotomy
sial/o rrhea sialorrhea
sial/o sten osis sialostenosis
The sigmoid colon is shaped somewhat like the Greek letter sigma (ς when it appears at the end of a word), hence "sigma-oid" sigm[a] oid sigmoid
sigmoid/o scope sigmoidoscope
sigmoid/o scopy sigmoidoscopy
steato rrhea steatorrhea
sten osis stenosis
sterco bil in stercobilin
sterco bil in ogen stercobilinogen
stomat itis stomatitis
stomat/o dynia stomatodynia
stomat/o gastr ic stomatogastric
stomat/o myc osis stomatomycosis
stomat/o plasty stomatoplasty
stomat osis stomatosis
sub ling/u al sublingual
sub mucos[a] al submucosal
sucr[e] ase sucrase
Latin tænia, "flat band"; Tænia or Taenia is the name of a genus of tapeworms Taenia Taenia
Greek teinesmos, "straining" tenesmus tenesmus
Trypsin is one of the first digestive enzymes isolated, by Kühne (1876). The name derives from Greek tripsis ("rubbing") + –in, apparently because he isolated it by rubbing the pancreas with glycerin. trypsin trypsin
ulcer ate ulcerate
ulcer ative ulcerative
umbilic al umbilical
un con jug[are] ated unconjugated
vallate vallate
vermi[s] form vermiform
Latin villus (pl. villi), "shaggy hair" villus villus
vit[a] amin[e] vitamin
volunt[us] ary voluntary

Media Attributions

  • Puke Emoji 32px

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Medical English Copyright © by Jim Hutchins is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book