INTRODUCTION TO VETERINARY MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY

ELEMENTS OF (VETERINARY ) MEDICAL TERMS

The language of veterinary medicine is a specialized vocabulary used by veterinarians. A (veterinary) medical word consists of some
or all of the following elements:

1. word root

2. combining form

3. suffix

4. prefix

1. Word roots

A word root is the main part of a medical term and contains its primary meaning. All medical terms have at least one word root. Most
word roots are derived from Greek or Latin. As a rule of thumb, Greek roots are used to build words that describe a disease, condition,
treatment, or diagnosis. Latin roots are used to construct words that describe anatomical structures.

Look at the following table.

English Term Greek or Latin Term Word Root Example

dermatos (Gr) dermat dermat/itis:
skin inflammation of the skin
cutis (L) cutane cutane/ous:
pertaining to the skin
nephros (Gr) nephr nephr/oma:
Kidney tumor of the kidney
renes (L) ren ren/al:
pertaining to the kidney
stomatos (Gr) stomat stomat/it is:
mouth inflammation of the
mouth
oris (L) or or/al:
pertaining to the mouth
Table 1-1.

2. Combining forms

A combining form is created when a word root is combined with a vowel. This so-called combining vowel is usually an o, but sometimes
it is an i. The combining vowel is used to connect two word elements. A combining form will be listed as word root/vowel (such as
gastr/o), as illustrated in Table 1-2.

Word Root Combining Vowel Combining Form Meaning

Gastr o gastr/o stomach
Crani o crani/o head
Ocul o ocul/o eye
Dent i dent/i teeth
Table 1-2.
3. Suffixes

A suffix is a word element that is added to the end of a word to change the meaning of the word and make it more specific. In the
terms nephr/itis, and nephr/ectomy, the suffixes are –itis (inflammation) and –ectomy (excision, removal). Changing the suffix changes
the meaning of the word. In medical terminology, a suffix usually describes a pathology (disease or abnormality), surgical or diagnostic
procedure, or part of speech (noun, adjective) as shown in Table 1.3. Many suffixes are derived from Greek or Latin language.

Suffix Describes a(n)… Meaning Example

-malacia morbid softening gastr/o/malacia
pathology (stomach)
-megaly enlargement nephr/o/megaly
(kidney)
-tomy incision (cutting into) crani/o/tomy
surgical or diagnostic (cranium)
-graphy procedure act of recording angi/o/graphy
(vessel)
-ia condition pneumon/ia
noun (lung)
-ist specialist ophthalm/o/log/ist
(science of the eye)
-ic pertaining to hepat/ic
adjective (liver)
-ous producing, characterized muc/ous
by (mucus, slimy material)
Table 1-3.

4. Prefixes

A prefix is a word part that is placed at the beginning of a word or word root. For example in the terms para/nasal and endo/nasal,
the prefixes are para- (beside, near) and endo- (within, inside). However, not all medical terms have a prefix. Adding or changing a
prefix changes the meaning of the word. The prefix usually denotes a number, time, position, direction, or negation as shown in Table
1-4. Many of the prefixes used in medical terminology are also used in the English language.

Prefix Describes a… Meaning Example

hemi- number one half hemi/pleg/ia
(paralysis)
post- time after post/nat/al
(birth)
para- position beside, near para/vertebr/al
(spine)
trans- direction through, across trans/urethr/al
(urethra)
a(n)- negation without, no an/em/ia
(blood)
Table 1-4.
DEFINING (VETERINARY ) MEDICAL WORDS

The three basic steps for defining medical words using subcutaneous as an example are the following:

1. Define the suffix, or last part of the word. In this case, the suffix is -ous, which means pertaining to.

2. Define the first part of the word (which can be a word root, combining form, or prefix). In this case, the prefix sub- means below.

3. Define the middle part of the word. In this case, the word root cutane means skin.

When you analyze subcutaneous following the three previous rules, the meaning is: 1. pertaining to 2. below 3. skin
(subcutaneous=pertaining to below the skin).

BUILDING (VETERINARY ) MEDICAL WORDS

There are three basic rules for building medical words.

Rule #1 A word root links a suffix that begins with a vowel, as in gastr/algia.

Rule #2 A combining form (root+o/i) links a suffix that begins with a consonant as in gastr/o/dynia.

Rule #3 A combining form links a root to another root to form a compound word. Follow this rule even if the next root begins with a
vowel, as in gastr/o/enter/itis.

Task 1. Use a dictionary and match the following prefixes and suffixes to their meanings.

Prefixes Suffixes
1. para- ___ slow 16. –logy ___ diseased condition

2. pre- ___ above 17. –ician, –ist ___ surgical repair

3. retro- ___ good 18. –trophy ___ act of recording

4. endo- ___ four 19. –tomy ___ specialist

5. peri- ___ within 20. –cele ___ science of

6. supra- ___ behind, back 21. –cyst ___ growth, nutrition

7. brady- ___ before 22. –algia ___ fear of

8. dys- ___ near, beside 23. –ia ___ inflammation

9. eu- ___ fast, rapid 24. –osis ___ bladder-like sac

10. mal- ___ bad 25. –phobia ___ surgical fixation

11. steno- ___ difficult 26. –itis ___ diseased condition

12. trans- ___ around 27. –plasty ___ incision

13. quadri- ___ contracted, narrow 28. –tripsy ___ hernia

14. poly- ___ many 29. –pexy ___ surgical crushing

15. tachy- ___ through, across 30. –graphy ___ pain

Task 2. Identify the different word elements (prefix, root, combining form, suffix) in the following medical terms. The first two have
been done as examples.

1. suprarenal: supra- (prefix), ren (root), -al (suffix)

2. hepatodynia: hepat/o (combining form), -dynia (suffix)

3. osteoarthritis:

4. intracranial:

5. nephrectomy:

6. dermatology:

Task 3. Use a dictionary and give the meanings of the medical terms in Task 1.2. The first one has been done as an example.

1. supra-= above, ren= kidney, -al= pertaining to pertaining to above the kidney