Medical Terminology Simplified

1–62 You may or may not know the meaning of the suffixes covered in this chap-

ter. It is not necessary for you to know the meanings of all suffixes yet because these

terms and definitions will be reviewed again. What is important now is that you

understand how to identify the component parts (root, combining form, suffix)

of a word.

For example, in the term pancreat/itis,pancreatis the __________;

itisis the ____________________.

In addition to word roots and CFs in boldface,in subsequent frames, all suffixes that stand alone will be set in

boldface bluetype.

Prefixes

A prefix is a word element located at the beginning of a word. Substituting one prefix for another prefix changes the
meaning of the word. A prefix usually indicates a number, time, position, or negation. Many prefixes found in medical ter-
minology also are found in the English language. In this text, a prefix that stands alone is followed by a hyphen.

1–63 In the term macro/cyte,macro-is a prefix meaning large; -cyteis a suffix

meaning cell. A macro/cyte is a large cell. Form a new term meaning small cellby

changing the prefix macro-to micro-:

__________ / __________.

1–64 Post/nat/al refers to the period after birth. Identify the elements that mean

pertaining to: __________.

after, behind:__________.

birth: __________.

1–65 Use pre- (before)to build a word meaning

pertaining to (the period) before birth:__________ / __________ / __________.

1–66 A word element located at the beginning of a word is a __________.

1–67 Intra/muscul/ar,post/nat/al, peri/card/itis,and pre/operativeare medical

terms that contain prefixes.

Determine the prefix in this frame that means:

in, within:__________.

after:__________.

around:__________.

before, in front of:__________.

Frame 1–58to Frame 1–67

Word Elements • CHAPTER 1 13

root, suffix

micro/cyte

MĪ-krō-sīt

-al

post-

nat

intra-

post-

peri-

pre-

prefix

pre/nat/al

prē-NĀ-tl

!