This document discusses key elements of medical terminology including word roots, combining forms, suffixes, and prefixes. It explains how these elements are combined to form medical terms and what each element contributes to the overall meaning. Examples are provided to illustrate how specific terms are built and defined. The document also covers anatomical position, body planes, levels of organization in the body, and common directional terms used in anatomy.

1. Dr. Namrata Bavalekar
M.P.Th

2. Content
1. Introduction
2. Word Root
3. Vowels
4. Suffix
5. Prefix
6. Defining Medical Words

3. 7. Body Structure
8. Levels of Organization
9. Anatomical Position
10. Planes of the Body
11. Directional Terms

4. Medical Word Elements
 The language of medicine is a specialized
vocabulary used by health care practitioners.
 Many current medical word elements originated as
early as the 1st century B.C., when Hippocrates
practiced medicine.
 With advancements in medicine, new terms have
evolved to reflect these innovations.

5.  A medical word consists of some or all of the
following elements: word root, combining form,
suffix, and prefix.
 How you combine these elements, and whether all
or some of them are present in a medical term,
determines the meaning of a word.

6. 1) Word Roots
 A word root is the foundation of a medical term
and contains its primary meaning.
 All medical terms have at least one word root.
 Most word roots are derived from Greek/Latin
language.
 Thus, two different roots may have the same
meaning.

7.  Greek roots are used to build words that describe a
disease, condition, treatment, or diagnosis. Latin
roots are used to build words that describe
anatomical structures.
 The Greek root dermat describes a disease,
condition, treatment or diagnosis of the skin; Latin
root cutane describes an anatomical structure.

8. English
Term
Greek/ Latin
Term
Word Root Word
Analysis
Skin Dermatos(Gr)
Cutis(L)
Dermat
Cutane
Dermat/itis
Cutane/ous
Mouth Stomatos(Gr)
Oris(L)
Stomat
Or
Stomat/itis
Or/al

9. 2) Combining Forms
 A combining form is created when a word root is
combined with a vowel. It is known as a combining
vowel, is usually an o, but sometimes it is an i.
 The combining vowel has no meaning of its own,
but enables two word elements to be connected.
 Like the word root, the combining form is the
basic foundation to which other word elements are
added to build a complete medical word.

10. Word Root+ Vowel = Combining
Form
Meaning
Erythr/ + O = Erythr/o Red
Gastr/ + O = Gastr/o Stomach
Hepat/ + O = Hepat/o Liver
Oste/ + O = Oste/o Bone

11. 3) Suffixes
 A suffix is a word element placed at the end of a
word that changes the meaning of the word.
 Changing the suffix changes meaning of the word.
 In medical terminology, a suffix describes a
pathology(disease/abnormality),symptom,surgical
or diagnostic procedure, or part of speech. Many
suffixes are derived from Greek or Latin words.

12. Combining
Form
Suffix Medical Word Meaning
Gastr/o
(Stomach)
+ -itis
(Inflammation)
= gastritis Inflammation
of the
Stomach
+ -megaly
(enlargement)
=gastomegaly Enlargement
of the
Stomach
+ -oma
(tumor)
=gastroma Tumor of the
Stomach

13. 4) Prefixes
 A prefix is a word element attached to the
beginning of a word or word root. However, not all
medical terms have a prefix.
 Adding/changing a prefix change meaning of word
 The prefix usually indicates a number, time,
position, direction, or negation.
 Many of the same prefixes used in medical
terminology are also used in the English language.

14. Prefix Word
Root
Suffix Medical Word Meaning
An-
(without,
not)
Esthes
(feeling)
-ia
(condition)
=Anesthesia Condition
of not
feeling
Intra-
(in,
within)
Muscul
(muscle)
-ae
(pertaining
to)
=Intramuscular pertaining
to within
the muscle

15. 5) Defining Medical Words
 Here are three basic steps for defining medical
words using gastroenteritis as an example.
1. Define the suffix, or last part of the word. In this
case, the suffix -itis, which means inflammation.
2. Define the first part of the word(which may be a
word root, combining form, prefix). In this case,
the combining form gastr/o means stomach.

16.  Define the middle parts of the word. In this case,
the word root enter means intestine. When you
analyze gastroenteritis following the three
previous rules, the meaning is:
 Inflammation (of)
 Stomach (and)
 Intestine.

17. 6) Building Medical Words
 There are three basic rules for building medical
words.

18.  Rule #1
A word root links a suffix that begins with a
vowel.
Word
Root +
Suffix =Medical
Word
Meaning
Hepat +
(liver)
-itis
(Inflammation)
=hepatitis Inflammation
of the liver

19.  Rule #2
A combining form (root o) links a suffix that
begins with a consonant.
Combining
Form +
Suffix =Medical
Word
Meaning
Hepat/o + -cyte =hepatocyte Liver cell

20.  Rule #3
A combining form links a root to another root to
form a compound word. This rule holds true even if
next root begins with a vowel, as in osteoarthritis.
Keep in mind that the rules for linking multiple
roots to each other are slightly different.

21. Combining
Form +
Word Root+ Suffix =Medical Word Meaning
Oste/o + Chondr +
(cartilage)
-itis
(inflammation)
=osteochondritis Inflammation
of bone and
cartilage

22. Body Structure

23. Levels of Organization
 The body is made up of several levels of structure
and function. Each of these levels builds on the
previous level, and contributes to the structure
and function of the entire organism. The levels of
organization from least to most complex are:
• cell •organ •organism
• tissue •system

24. 1) Cell
 The study of the body at the cellular level is called
cytology.
 The cell is the structural and functional unit of life.
 Body cells perform all activities associated with
life, including utilizing food, eliminating waste,
and reproducing. Cells consist of a cell membrane
that encloses cytoplasm and a nucleus.

25. 2) Tissue
 Groups of cells that perform a specialized activity
are called tissues.
 The study of tissues is called histology.
 Between the cells that make up tissues are varying
amounts and types of nonliving, intercellular
substances that provide pathways for cellular
interaction. More than 200 cell types compose four
major tissues of the body.

26. 3) Organ
 Organs are body structures that perform
specialized functions. They are composed of at
least two or more tissue types. For example, the
stomach is made up of connective tissue, muscle
tissue, epithelial tissue, and nervous tissue.
 Muscle and connective tissue form the wall of the
stomach. Epithelial and connective tissue cover the
inner and outer surfaces of the stomach.

27. 4) System
 A body system is composed of varying numbers of
organs and accessory structures that have similar
or related functions.
 For example, organs of the gastrointestinal system
include the esophagus, stomach, small intestine,
and bowel.
 Some of its accessory structures include the liver,
gallbladder, and pancreas.

28.  The purpose of this system is to digest food,
remove and use its nutrients, and expel waste
products.
 Other body systems include the reproductive,
respiratory, urinary, and cardiovascular systems.

29. 5) Organism
 The highest level of organization is the organism.
 An organism is a complete living entity capable of
independent existence.
 All complex organisms, including humans, are
made up of several body systems that work
together to sustain life.

30. Anatomical Position
 The anatomical position is a body posture used to
locate anatomical parts in relation to each other.
 In this position, the body is erect and the eyes are
looking forward.
 The upper limbs hang to the sides, with the palms
facing forward. The lower limbs are parallel, with toes
pointing straight ahead.

31.  No matter how the body is actually positioned—
standing or lying down, facing forward or
backward—or how the limbs are actually placed,
the positions and relationships of a structure are
always described as if the body were in the
anatomical position.

32. Planes of the Body
 To identify the different sections of the body,
anatomists use an imaginary flat surface called a
plane.
 The most commonly used planes are mid-sagittal
(median), coronal (frontal), and transverse
(horizontal). The section is named for the plane
along which it is cut. Thus, a cut along a transverse
plane produces a transverse, or horizontal, section.

33.  Planes of the Body

34. Directional Terms
 Abduction : Movement away from the mid-
sagittal (median) plane of the body/one of its parts
 Adduction : Movement toward the mid-sagittal
(median) plane of the body
 Medial : Pertaining to the midline of the body or
structure
 Lateral : Pertaining to a side

35.  Superior (cephalad) : Toward the head or upper
portion of a structure
 Inferior (caudal) : Away from the head, or toward
the tail or lower part of a structure
 Proximal : Nearer to the center (trunk of the
body) or to the point of attachment to the body
 Distal : Further from the center (trunk of the
body) or from the point of attachment to the body

36.  Anterior (ventral) : Front of the body
 Posterior (dorsal) : Back of the body
 Parietal : Pertaining to the outer wall of the body
cavity
 Visceral : Pertaining to the viscera, or internal
organs, especially the abdominal organs

37.  Prone : Lying on the abdomen, face down
 Supine : Lying horizontally on the back, face up
 Inversion : Turning inward or inside out
 Eversion : Turning outward

38.  Palmar : Pertaining to the palm of the hand
 Plantar : Pertaining to the sole of the foot
 Superficial : Toward the surface of the body
(external)
 Deep : Away from the surface of the body
(internal)

39. Summary