Female Reproductive System • CHAPTER 8 333Word Element Meaning Word Analysis
nat/o birth pre/nat/al (prē-NĀ-tl): pertaining to (the period) before birth
pre-: before, in front of
-al: pertaining to
oophor/o ovary oophor/oma (ō-ŏf-ōr-Ō-mă): ovarian tumor
-oma: tumor
ovari/o ovari/o/rrhexis (ō-văr-rē-ō-RĔK-sĭs): rupture of an ovary
-rrhexis: rupture
perine/o perineum perine/o/rrhaphy (pĕr-ĭ-nē-OR-ă-fē): suture of the perineum
-rrhaphy: suture
Perineorrhaphy is performed to repair a laceration that occurs spontaneously or is
made surgically during the delivery of the fetus.
salping/o tube (usually salping/ectomy (săl-pĭn-JĔK-tō-mē): excision of a fallopian tube
fallopian or -ectomy: excision, removal
eustachian
[auditory] tubes)
vulv/o vulva vulv/o/pathy (vŭl-VŎP-ă-thē): disease of the vulva
-pathy: disease
episi/o episi/o/tomy (ĕ-pēs-ē-ŎT-ō-mē): incision of the perineum
-tomy: incision
Episiotomy is performed to enlarge the vaginal opening for delivery of the fetus. The
perineum is the region between the vaginal orifice and the anus.
Suffixes
-arche beginning men/arche(mĕn-ĂR-kē): initial menstrual period
men: menses, menstruation
Menarche usually occurs between ages 9 and 17.
-gravida pregnant primi/gravida(prī-mĭ-GRĂV-ĭ-dă): woman during her first pregnancy
woman primi-: first
-para to bear multi/para(mŭl-TĬP-ă-ră): woman who has delivered more than one viable infant
(offspring) multi-:many, much
-salpinx tube (usually hemat/o/salpinx(hĕm-ă-tō-SĂL-pinks): collection of blood in a fallopian tube;
fallopian or also called hemosalpinx
eustachian hemat/o: blood
[auditory] tubes) Hematosalpinx is commonly associated with a tubal pregnancy.
-tocia childbirth, dys/tocia(dĭs-TŌ-sē-ā): childbirth that is painful and difficult
labor dys-: bad; painful; difficult
Dystocia may be caused by an obstruction or constriction of the birth passage or abnor-
mal size, shape, position, or condition of the fetus.
-version turning retro/version(rĕt-rō-VĔR-shŭn): tipping back of an organ
retro-: backward, behind
Uterine retroversion is measured as first-, second-, or third-degree, depending on the
angle of tilt in relationship to the vagina.
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
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