Question

Please discuss with your peers the value of understanding the concept of root, combining form, prefix and suffix and how it applies to learning terms in the digestive (gastroenterology) and pulmonary systems. Identify at least 5 specific terms that seemed to be most challenging and your method of study you used to become more proficient.

Answer 1

To understand medical terminology, also called the language of medicine, you have to know how the terms that make up this language are put together. In medical terminology, the terms are composed of different word parts that come together to give the full word its meaning. Knowing how to break these terms into their parts makes understanding them a whole lot easier. There are three main parts to a medical term: the prefix, word root, and suffix. Let's explore each of these parts.

Word Roots and Combining Forms

The word root is the part of the medical term that gives the term its most basic or central meaning. An easy way to remember this is that it gives the central meaning and is usually found in the center of the word. There is an enormous amount of word roots. This is because there is a word root for every single part of the body, everything that enters the body, and everything that exits the body. That's a lot of word roots.

Let's start building some example words. If you want to form a term based on the heart, then you would use the word root 'card-' or 'cardi-.' To make a term about the stomach or intestines, then you would use 'gastr-' or 'enter-' respectively. Determining the correct word root to use based on what you want to describe is the first step in forming a medical term. Medical terms may include one or more word roots.

In order to make medical terms easier to pronounce when the word parts are put together, the word roots may need to be changed into a different form, which is known as the combining form. This usually involves adding the letter 'o,' 'i,' or 'a' to the end of the word root. Converting a word root to its combining form is required when you are adding a suffix or another word root that begins with a consonant. So, the combining forms for the word roots we just went over would be 'cardio,' 'gastro,' and 'entero.'

Suffixes

The suffix for a medical term can be found at the end of the term. The suffix serves the purpose of further telling what is happening with the word root. This can tell what the word root is doing, what is being done to it, or identify who is doing something with it. It is the part of the medical term that brings action to the term. Most medical terms will include a suffix.

Let's revisit the two terms we started working with. The first word root is 'cardi-.' There is a suffix '-centesis,' which means 'surgical puncture to remove fluid.' You could put this suffix with the combining form 'cardio-' to form the term 'cardiocentesis.' Another suffix is '-ologist.' This means 'a person who studies or specializes in.' You could put this with the combining forms 'gastro-' and 'entero-' to form the term 'gastroenterologist.' There are many suffixes to learn, but not nearly as many as there are word roots. You will get very familiar with the most commonly used suffixes and their meanings much quicker than the word roots.