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How the Unit 12 Word List Was Built

Etymology Prefix1 Prefix2 "Pre-Root" "Pre-Root" Root Root "Post-Root" Suffix1
Word End		 Suffix2
Word End		 Word
abort/i facient abortifacient
From Latin abortionem, "miscarriage" or "abortion" abort ion abortion
Latin abruptionem, "sudden breaking off" + placentæ abruptio placentae abruptio placentae
Latin abstinentia, literally ab– + tenere "to hold off" abstinence abstinence
a mast amastia
a men/o rrhea amenorrhea
amnio centesis amniocentesis
Greek amnion, "membrane around a fetus" amnion amnion
amnio rrhea amniorrhea
amnio rrhexis amniorrhexis
amnio scope amnioscope
amnio scopy amnioscopy
amnio tomy amniotomy
From Greek anōmalos meaning "uneven" or "irregular" anomaly anomaly
an orchid ism anorchidism
an ov[a] ula tion anovulation
Latin ante partum, "before birth", with space removed ante partum antepartum
Greek antron, "a cave" antr[on] al antral
shortening of Latin areola papillaris, "small area around a nipple" areola areola
a sperm ia aspermia
Greek zoian, "animal" (hence, alive) a zoo sperm ia azoospermia
Greek balanus, "glans of the penis"; from bálanos, "acorn" balan itis balanitis
balan/o plasty balanoplasty
balan/o rrhea balanorrhea
first described 1677 by Caspar Bartholin the Younger Bartholin glands Bartholin glands
blast/o cele blastocele
blast/o cyst blastocyst
brady toc ia bradytocia
bulb/o urethr al bulbourethral
card/i/o toco graph cardiotocograph
cephal/o pelv cephalopelvic
cervic ectomy cervicectomy
cervic itis cervicitis
cervic/o colp itis cervicocolpitis
cervic/o dynia cervicodynia
cervic/o graphy cervicography
cervic/o vagin itis cervicovaginitis
cervix cervix
Likely refers to Roman law that required a child to be cut from the mother's womb if the mother died in childbirth Cæserean section cesarean section
French chancre, "cancer"; same etymology as "canker sore" chancre chancre
Greek "military cloak", because of its ability to cloak itself inside of cells as a vacuole Chlamydia Chlamydia
chorio amnion itis chorioamnionitis
chorio angi oma chorioangioma
chorio carcin oma choriocarcinoma
chorion chorion
chorion itis chorionitis
Latin circumcisionem, made from circum–, "around" + cædere, "cut" circumcision circumcision
clitoris clitoris
coitus coitus
Greek kolpos "bay, gulf of the sea" (i.e. vagina) colp itis colpitis
colp/o cyst itis colpocystitis
colp/o pexy colpopexy
colp/o plasty colpoplasty
colp/o ptosis colpoptosis
colp/o scope colposcope
colp/o scopy colposcopy
colp/o sten osis colpostenosis
Latin conceptionem, "to take in and hold; become pregnant" (con– + capere, "to take") conception conception
condom condom
con genit[us] al congenital
contra [con]ception contraception
Latin contractionem, "to draw together" or "shorten" con contrac[t] tion contraction
corpora cavern osum corpora cavernosum
Latin albicans, "becoming white" corpus albicans corpus albicans
corpus hemorrhagicum corpus hemorrhagicum
Latin luteus, "yellow" (lutum is a weed used by the Romans to dye fabric yellow) corpus luteum corpus luteum
Latin for "spongy body" corpus spong[e]/i osum corpus spongiosum
cremaster cremaster
crypt orchid ism cryptorchidism
Congenital CMV can cause long-term health problems cyt/o megal/o virus cytomegalovirus
From Greek dartós, "flayed, skinned" dartos dartos
Latin dēciduus, "falling down or off" decidua decidua
derm oid dermoid cyst
di zygot[e] ic dizygotic
dys men/o rrhea dysmenorrhea
dys– + Greek páreunos, "lying beside, lying with" (a medical term for intercourse) dys pareun ia dyspareunia
dys plasia dysplasia
dys toc dystocia
Greek eklampsis, "shining forth" or "to burst forth violently", apparently because of sudden onset eclampsia eclampsia
ecto derm ectoderm
Greek, ektopos, literally "out of place", from ek– + –topos ec top ic ectopic
Latin eiaculatus, "to shoot out" ejacula tion ejaculation
Greek embryon, "a young one" (en– + bryein, "to swell") embryo/n ic embryonic
endo cervic itis endocervicitis
endo derm endoderm
endo metri osis endometriosis
endo metr itis endometritis
endo metr ium endometrium
epididym ectomy epididymectomy
Greek epi + didymos, "testicle" (literally, "double"; "two-fold"); probably coined by the Greek anatomist Herophilus epi didymis epididymis
epididym itis epididymitis
epididym/o orch itis epididymo-orchitis
epididym/o tomy epididymotomy
Greek epision, "the pubic region" episio[n] rrhaphy episiorrhaphy
episio[n] stenosis episiostenosis
episio[n] tomy episiotomy
French érectile, from Latin erect "to raise or set up" erectile
eu toc ia eutocia
extra embryo/n ic extraembryonic
Latin fēcundus, "fertile, productive". Among the words that come from the same Latin root are: felare, "to suck"; femina, "woman, she who suckles"; felix, "happy, auspicious, fruitful"; fetus, "pregnancy"; filia/filius, "daughter/son" fecund fecund
fecund ability fecundability
Latin fertilis, "fruitful, productive" from ferre, "to bear" fertil[e] iz[e] ation fertilization
fertil[e] iz[e] ed fertilized
fet[us]/o metry fetometry
Latin, "fringe, border, threads" fimbria fimbria
fraternal fraternal
gastr ula tion gastrulation
Latin gestationem, "carrying" (it used to mean "riding around on horseback") gest ation gestation
Latin glans, "acorn" glans glans
Coined from Greek gonos, "child, offspring, seed" gonad gonad
gonad arche gonadarche
gonad/o trop in gonadotropin
gono rrhea gonorrhea
granulosa granulosa
Latin gravidus, "loaded, full, swollen" gravida gravida
Latin gravidarum, "pregnant [woman]" gravidarum gravidarum
gravidity gravidity
French gynécologie, from Latinish-Greek gynaiko– (ultimately from Greek gynē, "woman") gyneco logist gynecologist
gyneco logy gynecology
gynec/o mast ia gynecomastia
hem/at/o salpinx hematosalpinx
hem/o rrhag[e] icum hemorrhagicum
Hermaphroditus was the two-sexed child of Hermes and Aphrodite hermaphrodite hermaphrodite
Greek herpes, the name for the disease shingles (herpes zoster inflammation of the skin); Greek herpein, "to creep" same as herpetology herpes herpes
hydr/o cele hydrocele
hydr/o cel[e] ectomy hydrocelectomy
hydro salpinx hydrosalpinx
hymen hymen
hyper andr/o gen ism hyperandrogenism
hyper mast hypermastia
hypo mast hypomastia
hyster algia hysteralgia
hyster ectomy hysterectomy
hyster/o cele hysterocele
hyster/o dynia hysterodynia
hyster/o graphy hysterography
hyster/o pexy hysteropexy
hyster/o ptosis hysteroptosis
hyster/o rrhexis hysterorrhexis
hyster/o salping ectomy hysterosalpingectomy
hyster/o salping/o gram hysterosalpingogram
hyster/o scope hysteroscope
hyster/o scopy hysteroscopy
hyster/o tomy hysterotomy
French implantation, "the action of inserting or engrafting" implantation implantation
Latin, "in glass" (i.e. in a glass dish or tube) in vitro in vitro
in fertile
in fertil[e] ity infertility
Latin inhibere, "to keep back" inhib[it] in inhibin
inter sex intersex
intra epi thel[e] ial intraepithelial
intra partum intrapartum
intra uterine intrauterine
labia majora labia majora
labia minora labia minora
labio scrot al labioscrotal
lact ation lactation
lact/o genic lactogenic
lact/o rrhea lactorrhea
"smooth muscle tumor" lei/o my oma leiomyoma
leuko rrhea leukorrhea
Latin ligatus, "bound" ligat[e] ion ligation
macro mast macromastia
macro som macrosomia
Latin mamma, "breast" (and, not coincidentally, what babies in many cultures call mothers, "ma + ma"), probably because "ma" is one of the first sounds babies make mammo gram mammogram
mammo plasty mammoplasty
mast algia mastalgia
mast ectomy mastectomy
mast itis mastitis
masto pexy mastopexy
mast/o ptosis mastoptosis
German menarche from Greek men–, "month" + Greek arkhē, "beginning" men arche menarche
men/o pause menopause
men/o rrhag[e] ia menorrhagia
men/o rrh[age] algia menorrhalgia
men/o rrhea menorrhea
menstru[s] ation menstruation
meso derm mesoderm
meso nephr[os] ic mesonephric duct
metr/o colp/o cele metrocolpocele
metr/o men/o rrhagia metromenorrhagia
metr/o phleb itis metrophlebitis
metr/o rrhagia metrorrhagia
micro cephal us microcephalus
micro mast micromastia
mono zygot[e] ic monozygotic
my/o epithel[e] ium myoepithelial
my/o metr itis myometritis
my/o metr ium myometrium
neo nat al neonatal
neo nat/o logist neonatologist
neo nat/o logy neonatology
neo plasia neoplasia
Latin nulli– + –parous null/i par[us] ous nulliparous
Latin obstetricus, "pertaining to a midwife", literally "one who stands opposite [the woman giving birth]: ob– "opposite" + stare, "stands" ob stet/r ic obstetric
ob stet/r ic ian obstetrician
oligo hydr amnios oligohydramnios
oligo men/o rrhea oligomenorrhea
oligo sperm ia oligospermia
oo cyte oocyte
oo gon ia oogonia
oophor ectomy oophorectomy
oophor itis oophoritis
oophor/o cyst ectomy oophorocystectomy
oophor/o cyst osis oophorocystosis
oophor oma oophoroma
oophor/o salping ectomy oophorosalpingectomy
oophor/o tomy oophorotomy
orchid algia orchidalgia
orchid ectomy orchidectomy
orchid itis orchiditis
orchid/o pexy orchidopexy
orchid/o ptosis orchidoptosis
orchid/o tomy orchidotomy
orch/i ectomy orchiectomy
orch/i epididym itis orchiepididymitis
orch/i/o dynia orchiodynia
orch/i/o pathy orchiopathy
orch/i/o pexy orchiopexy
orch/i/o pexy orchioplasty
orch itis orchitis
organ/o genesis organogenesis
orifice orifice
ovar algia ovaralgia
ovar/i algia ovarialgia
ovar/i ovarian
ovar/i/o centesis ovariocentesis
ovar/i/o cyesis ovariocyesis
ovar/i/o rrhexis ovariorrhexis
ovar/i/o stomy ovariostomy
ovar itis ovaritis
ovar y ovary
ov[um] ula tion ovulation
ovum ovum
oxy toc[ic] in oxytocin
Named after the inventor of the procedure, Dr. Georgios Papanicolaou Pap[anicolaou] smear Pap smear
Literally, "nipple tumor", from Latin papilla, "nipple", diminutive of papula, "swelling" + –oma. The related word "pap" is thought to be from the sound an infant makes when asking for a nipple. papill[a] oma papilloma
Latin parire, "bring forth, produce"; para is the feminine form of parire para para
Also called Müllerian ducts; in males anti-Müllerian hormone stops this development, but the absence of this hormone (or a response to it) results in formation of female genitalia regardless of genetic makeup para meso nephr[os] ic paramesonephric ducts
Also called Skene's glands; these are near the urethra, and during sexual arousal they swell with blood and secrete fluid para urethr[a] al paraurethral glands
parity parity
pelv pelvic
pelv/i cephal/o metry pelvicephalometry
pelv/i metry pelvimetry
penis penis
peri metr itis perimetritis
peri metr ium perimetrium
peri nat al perinatal
peri nato logist perinatologist
peri nato logy perinatology
perine/o cele perineocele
perine/o plasty perineoplasty
perine/o rrhaphy perineorrhaphy
perine/o tomy perineotomy
Greek perinaion, "space between the anus and scrotum" perine um perineum
Placenta first condition in which placenta is attached near the cervix placenta previa placenta previa
Early separation of the placenta from the lining of the uterus before the second stage of labor placental abruption placental abruption
poly hydr amnios polyhydramnios
poly men/o rrhea polymenorrhea
poly sperm y polyspermy
post nat postnatal
post partum postpartum
pre eclampsia preeclampsia
pre nat prenatal
French, from Latin præputium, "foreskin" prepuce prepuce
From ancient Greek minor fertility god named Priapos who is always shown with a permanently erect penis Priap[os] ism priapism
pro lapse prolapse
pro nucleus pronucleus
prostate prostate
prostat ectomy prostatectomy
prostat itis prostatitis
prostat/o cyst itis prostatocystitis
prostat/o lith prostatolith
prostat/o lith/o tomy prostatolithotomy
prostat/o megaly prostatomegaly
prostat/o rrhea prostatorrhea
prostat/o vesicul ectomy prostatovesiculectomy
prostat/o vesicul itis prostatovesiculitis
Latin pseudo– + Greek kúēsis, "pregnancy" pseudo cyesis pseudocyesis
pseudo hermaphrodite pseudohermaphrodite
pub arche pubarche
pub ic pubic
Latin pubes means "adult, full-grown, manly"; this gives us "os pubis" (pubic bone) which gives us "pubis" pub is pubis
pub/o cervic al pubocervical ligament
py/o salpinx pyosalpinx
recto cele rectocele
relax in relaxin
rete testis rete testis
salping ectomy salpingectomy
salping itis salpingitis
salping/o cele salpingocele
salping/o cyesis salpingocyesis
Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (or oophorosalpingectomy) is used to reduce breast cancer risk by about 50% in women that have a dangerous version of the BRCA1/BRCA2 genes. salping/o oophor ectomy salpingo-oophorectomy
salping/o oophor itis salpingo-oophoritis
salping/o pexy salpingopexy
salping/o scope salpingoscope
semen semen
semin al seminal vesicles
Compare etymology of the Carboniferous Period semin iferous seminiferous tubules
semin oma seminoma
som/ato mammo trop in somatomammotropin
sono hyster/o graphy sonohysterography
Latin for "reflector, looking-glass, mirror" speculum speculum
spermatid spermatid
sperm/at/o cele spermatocele
sperm/at/o cyte spermatocyte
sperm/at/o genesis spermatogenesis
sperm/at/o genic spermatogenic cells
sperm/at/o gon ia spermatogonia
sperm/at/o lysis spermatolysis
sperm/at/o zoa spermatozoa
sperm/at/o zoon spermatozoon
sperm/i cide spermicide
sperm/o lytic spermolytic
Fibrous connective tissue of an organ, from Latin stroma, "bed covering, mattress; something to sit or lie on" stroma stroma
suckl[e] ing suckling
Also called Sertoli cells sustentacul[um] ar sustentacular cells
Derived from a poem from 1500s called "Syphilis, or the French Disease" telling the story of a shepherd named Syphilis who supposedly had the disease syphilis syphilis
Greek teratos, "belonging to a marvel, sign, wonder, monster" terat/o gen teratogen
terat/o gen ic teratogenic
terat/o logy teratology
terat oma teratoma
testes testes
testicle testicle
testic ul[e] ar testicular
testis testis
test itis testitis
test/o toxic osis testotoxicosis
Greek tókos, “childbirth” toco dyna graph tocodynagraph
toco graph tocograph
toco graphy tocography
toco lytic tocolytic
Latin tortio, "torture, torment" from torquere, "to twist or torture" torsion torsion
Coined 1909 in French from Greek toxon, "bow, arch" from the organism's shape + plasma Toxoplasm[a] osis toxoplasmosis
trans vagin al transvaginal
From parasite Trichomonas vaginalis, a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) Trichomon[as] iasis trichomoniasis
ecto derm tropho trophoectoderm
Latin term which means, literally, "white coat", which gives a new meaning to the "white coat ceremony" held by most medical schools tunica albuginea tunica albuginea
urethr a urethra
urethr/o cele urethrocele
uter ine uterine
Latin, "womb, belly" from PIE udero– uter us uterus
vagin a vagina
vagin itis vaginitis
vagin/o dynia vaginodynia
vagin/o myc osis vaginomycosis
vagin/o perine/o plasty vaginoperineoplasty
vagin/o perine/o rrhaphy vaginoperineorrhaphy
vagin/o perine/o tomy vaginoperineotomy
vagin/o plasty vaginoplasty
vagin/o scope vaginoscope
vagin osis vaginosis
varico cele varicocele
Latin, "carrying away vessel" vas deferens vas deferens
vas ectomy vasectomy
vaso vaso stomy vasovasostomy
vesico vagin vesicovaginal
vesicul ectomy vesiculectomy
vesicul itis vesiculitis
vesicul/o tomy vesiculotomy
vulva vulva
vulv[a] itis vulvitis
vulv/o dynia vulvodynia
vulv/o vagin itis vulvovaginitis
From Greek zygōtos, "yoked"; the sperm and egg are yoked together to form a zygote zygote zygote

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