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Medical Terminology · Lesson 1 of 12 · 5 min

How Medical Words Are Built

Root, prefix, suffix, and the two suffixes you will see everywhere

0:00 / 5:00
1x1.25x1.5x

Here is the good news up front: medical words are not memorized one at a time. They are snapped together from a small set of reusable bricks. Once you own maybe forty bricks, you can decode thousands of words you have never seen before. That is the whole trick, and you are about to learn it.

The three parts of a word

Every medical word has up to three parts.

  • Root: the body part or the core meaning, like cardi (heart) or gastr (stomach).
  • Prefix: sits in front and usually tells you where, when, or how much, like hyper (too much) or sub (under).
  • Suffix: sits at the end and usually tells you what is happening or what was done, like -itis (inflammation) or -ectomy (surgical removal).
The rule for the connectorThe rule of thumb: keep the o when the suffix starts with a consonant, drop it when the suffix starts with a vowel. That is why it is gastritis, not gastroitis.

Quiz now, while it is fresh. 8 questions, no timer.

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How Medical Words Are Built

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Medical Terminology · How Medical Words Are Built

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For first responders

More on the first responder shelf

🚑EMR Exam Prep18 lessons · For First Responders
💉AEMT Exam Prep20 lessons · For First Responders
⚕Paramedic Exam Prep21 lessons · For First Responders
🚑EMT Exam Prep28 lessons · For First Responders
🫁Airway and Ventilation Prep for EMTs6 lessons · For First Responders
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128 practice questions, 12 lessons and 1 timed exam set. Or browse our other first responder courses.

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Medical Terminology · Lesson 1 of 12 · 5 min

How Medical Words Are Built

Root, prefix, suffix, and the two suffixes you will see everywhere

0:00 / 2:20

The bricks a word is built from

Here is the good news up front: medical words are not memorized one at a time. They are snapped together from a small set of reusable bricks. Once you own maybe forty bricks, you can decode thousands of words you have never seen before. That is the whole trick, and you are about to learn it.

The three parts of a word

Every medical word has up to three parts.

  • Root: the body part or the core meaning, like cardi (heart) or gastr (stomach).
  • Prefix: sits in front and usually tells you where, when, or how much, like hyper (too much) or sub (under).
  • Suffix: sits at the end and usually tells you what is happening or what was done, like -itis (inflammation) or -ectomy (surgical removal).

There is also a tiny connector called a combining vowel, almost always the letter o. It exists purely so the word is pronounceable. Cardi plus -logy would be a mouthful, so we say cardiology.

The rule for the connector

The rule of thumb: keep the o when the suffix starts with a consonant, drop it when the suffix starts with a vowel. That is why it is gastritis, not gastroitis.

How to decode a word

Read medical words back to front. Start at the suffix, then go to the beginning, then fill in the middle.

Decoding gastroenteritis

Take gastroenteritis: -itis means inflammation, gastr means stomach, enter means intestine. Inflammation of the stomach and intestine. You just decoded a six-syllable word without looking anything up.

The suffixes that carry the workload

Two suffixes carry an enormous share of the workload, so meet them now. The suffix -itis means inflammation: tonsillitis, arthritis, dermatitis, appendicitis. The suffix -ectomy means surgical removal: appendectomy, tonsillectomy, hysterectomy. If you learn only two suffixes today, learn these two. They pay rent immediately.

The caution before you go

One honest caution before you go: decoding gives you the literal meaning, not always the clinical meaning. A word can drift over centuries of use. Decoding gets you a strong, usually correct first guess, and a first guess is a wonderful place to start. Confirm anything that matters for patient care.

Quizzes tell your brain this is important.

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Recalling from memory is what makes learning stick, so OmniTaught has you do it three ways: write the key idea in your own words, answer a quiz while the lesson is fresh, and review it just before you would forget.

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Also from the same desk: OmniPsyche Counseling Tools, which preps your next session and not just your notes; OmniPsyche.org, free mental health education with no paywall and no signup; and NOTICE, a free guided meditation app.

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