Medical Terminology Simplified

Boldfaceindicates a word root or combining form. Blueindicates a suffix. Pinkindicates a prefix.

182 CHAPTER 5• Cardiovascular and Lymphatic Systems

WORD ELEMENTS

This section introduces CFs, suffixes, and prefixes related to the lymphatic system, along with

each element’s meaning, an example, and additional analysis of key elements in the example.

Review the following table and pronounce each word in the word analysis column aloud before

you begin to work in the frames.

Word Element Meaning Word Analysis

Combining Forms

aden/o gland aden/o/pathy (ă-dĕ-NŎP-ă-thē): disease of a gland

-pathy: disease

agglutin/o clumping, agglutin/ation (ă-gloo-tĭ-NĀ-shŭn): process of cells clumping together

gluing -ation: process (of)

immun/o immune, immun/o/gen (ĭ-MŪ-nō-jĕn): producing immunity

immunity, safe -gen: forming, producing, origin

An immunogen is a substance capable of producing an immune response.

lymph/o lymph lymph/o/poiesis (lĭm-fō-poy-Ē-sĭs): formation of lymphocytes or of lymphoid

tissue

-poiesis: formation, production

lymphaden/o lymph gland lymphaden/itis (lĭm-făd-ĕn-Ī-tĭs): inflammation of a lymph gland (node)

(node) -itis: inflammation

lymphangi/o lymph vessel lymphangi/oma (lĭm-făn-jē-Ō-mă): tumor composed of lymphatic vessels

-oma: tumor

phag/o swallowing, phag/o/cyte (FĂG-ō-sīt): cell that swallows and eats (cellular debris)

eating -cyte: cell

A phagocyte surrounds, engulfs, and digests microorganisms and cellular debris.

splen/o spleen splen/o/megaly (splĕ-nō-MĔG-ă-lē): enlargement of the spleen

-megaly: enlargement

thym/o thymus gland thym/oma (thī-MŌ-mă): tumor of the thymus gland, usually a benign tumor

-oma: tumor

Suffix

-phylaxis protection ana/phylaxis(ăn-ă-fĭ-LĂK-sĭs): against protection

ana-: against; up; back

Anaphylaxis is an extreme allergic reaction characterized by a rapid decrease in blood

pressure, breathing difficulties, hives, and abdominal cramps.

Pronunciation Help Long sound a ̄in ra ̄te e ̄in re ̄birth ı ̄in ı ̄sle o ̄in o ̄ver u ̄in u ̄nite

Short sound a ̆in a ̆lone e ̆in e ̆ver ̆ıin ı ̆t o ̆in no ̆t u ̆in cu ̆t

Visit the Medical Terminology Simplifiedonline resource center at DavisPlus for an

audio exercise of the terms in this table. It will help you master pronunciations

and meanings of the medical terms.