Unit 2 Roots
Word roots introduced in Unit 1 are colored gray.
| Root Word | Definition | 
|---|---|
| abdomin | belly | 
| acerb[o]/a | harsh, bitter | 
| acute | sharp | 
| aise ease  | 
state of rest or well-being | 
| alert | aware of surroundings; vigilant | 
| anter/i | front | 
| antrum | cave | 
| assur | secure | 
| ausculta | listen attentively to | 
| benign | well-mannered | 
| calor | heat | 
| candida | fungus; usually used to designate the specific fungus Candida albicans | 
| cardio | heart | 
| caud | tail | 
| charge | obligation | 
| chondr | cartilage (as in the ribs) | 
| chronic | pertaining to time | 
| coron | crown | 
| cran/i | head; skull | 
| crino | secretion | 
| dem/o dem/i/o  | 
people, population | 
| different | set apart | 
| dila | increase in size | 
| dist | farther away | 
| dolor | pain | 
| dors dorsum  | 
back | 
| drome | route, road | 
| endo | inside | 
| etio | cause | 
| febr | fever | 
| front | front | 
| gastr | stomach | 
| genera | ancestry | 
| genet | birth | 
| gn[us] | birth | 
| gnos | knowing | 
| graph | device used for a test or procedure | 
| hereditar | transmitted in a family line | 
| homeo | same | 
| horizon[t] | parallel to the ground | 
| iatro | physician, healer | 
| il[eum] | flank | 
| infer | underneath | 
| inguin | groin | 
| later | to the side | 
| lesion | damage, injury | 
| lethargic | drowsy | 
| lipid | fat | 
| local | place | 
| lumb[us] | lower back | 
| marked | making an impression | 
| med/i | towards the middle | 
| morbid | sick | 
| mortal | dead | 
| observa | what is seen | 
| occult | what is unseen | 
| orient | towards the east (from using a compass) | 
| ox | shortening of oxygen | 
| palliat | covering | 
| palm | front surface of the hand | 
| palpa | feeling with the fingers | 
| path/o | disease | 
| pend | hanging | 
| percuss | tapping | 
| phylax | protection | 
| physi/o | function (literally "nature") | 
| plant | bottom surface of the foot | 
| port | carry | 
| posi | place | 
| poster/i | behind | 
| press | pressure; dent | 
| produc | giving rise to | 
| progress | moving forward | 
| prone | face down, bending forward | 
| prox/im | near | 
| ptom | something that falls on you | 
| recurr | happening again | 
| remark | making a dent again | 
| remiss | diminishing; becoming less | 
| rostr | nose | 
| rubor | redness | 
| rupt | breaking, bursting | 
| sagitt | arrow | 
| scope | instrument for looking inside | 
| sequel | what comes next | 
| skelet | bones | 
| stas stasis  | 
standing still | 
| statim | immediately | 
| stem | standing | 
| sterile | not producing offspring | 
| super/i | toward the top | 
| supine | face up, bending backward | 
| tens | stretching, pressure (cf. tendon in Unit 1) | 
| tom (Unit 1 suffix table)  | 
cutting | 
| tribut | to pay | 
| turgor | swelling | 
| umbilic[us] | navel, belly-button | 
| vascul | little vessel (vas + cule) | 
| vaso | vessel | 
| ventr | belly | 
| vers | across |