Prefixes and suffixes
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This document lists and defines numerous scientific root words, prefixes, and suffixes used in medical and biological terminology. It provides over 200 entries explaining the meaning or derivation of prefixes like "a-", "ab-", "-able", suffixes like "-aceous", "-ate", and combining forms like "aden-", "adip-", "aero-", relating to parts of the body, processes, conditions, numbers, and other scientific concepts.
Prefixes and suffixes
- 1. Scientific Root Words, Prefixes, And Suffixes a-, an- not, without, lacking, deficient ab- away from, out from -able capable of ac- to, toward -aceous of or pertaining to acou-, acous- hear ad- to, toward aden- gland adip- fat aero- air agri- field, soil -al having the character of alb- white alg-, -algia pain alto- high ambi- both ameb- change, alternation amni- fetal membrane amphi-, ampho- both amyl- starch ana- up, back, again andro- man, masculine anemo- wind ang- choke, feel pain angi- blood, vessel, duct ante- before, ahead of time anter- front antho- flower anti- against, opposite antrhopo- man, human -ap-, -aph- touch apo-, ap- away from aqu- water archaeo- primitive, ancient -ary, -arium denotes a place for something arteri- artery arthr- joint, articulation -ase forms names of enzymes aster-, astr- star -ate verb form the act of anther- fatty deposit -ation noun form the act of atmo- vapor audi- hear aur- ear auto- self bacter-, bactr- bacterium, stick, club barb- beard baro- weight bath- depth, height bene- well, good bi- (Latin) two twice bi-, bio- (Greek) life, living -blast- sprout, germ, bud brachi- arm brachy- short brady- slow branchi- fin brev- short bronch- windpipe cac-. bad calor- heat capill- hair capit- head carcin- cancer cardi- heart carn- meat, flesh carp- fruit carpal- wrist cata- breakdown, downward caud- tail -cell- chamber, small room cen-, cene- now, recent cente- pierce centi- hudredth centr- center cephal- head cerat- horn cerebr- brain cervic- neck chel- claw chem- dealing with chemicals chir- hand chlor- green chondr- cartilage chrom-, -chrome color chron- time -chym- juice -cid-, -cis- cut, kill, fall circa-, circum- around, about cirru- hairlike curls co- with, together cocc- seed, berry coel- hollow coll- glue coni- cone contra- against corp- body cort-, cortic- outer layer cosmo- world, order, form cotyl- cup counter- against crani- skull cresc-, cret- begin to grow crypt- hidden, covered -cul-, -cule small, diminutive cumul- heaped cuti- skin cyan- blue -cycle, cycl- ring, circle -cyst- sac, pouch, bladder cyt-, -cyte cell, hollow container dactyl- finger de- away from, down deca- ten deci- tenth deliquesc- become fluid demi- half dendr- tree dent- tooth derm- skin di-, dipl- (Latin) two, double di-, dia- (Greek) through, across, apart dia- (Latin) day digit- finger, toe din- terrible dis- apart, out dorm- sleep dors- back du-, duo- two -duct lead dynam- power dys- bad, abnormal, difficult ec- out of, away from echin- spiny, prickly eco- house ecto- outside of -elle small -emia blood en-, endo-, ent- in, into, within -en made of encephal- brain enter- intestine, gut entom- insects -eous nature of, like epi- upon, above, over -err- wander, go astray erythro- red -escent becoming eso- inward, within, inner eu- well, good, true, normal eury- widen ex- out of, away from extra- beyond, outside -fer- bear, carry, produce ferro- iron fibr- fiber, thread -fid, fiss- split, divided into -flect, -flex bend flor- flower flu-,fluct-,flux flow foli- leaf fract- break -gam- marriage gastr- stomach geo- land, earth -gen, -gine producer, former -gene- origin, birth -gest- carry, produce, bear -glen- eyeball -glob- ball, round gloss- tongue gluc-, glyc- sweet, sugar glut- buttock gnath- jaw -gon angle, corner -grad- step -gram, graph record, writing grav- heavy -gross- thick gymno- naked, bare gyn- female gyr- ring, circle, spiral -hal-, -hale breathe, breath halo- salt hapl- simple hector- hundred -helminth- worm hem- blood hemi- half hepar-, hepat- liver herb- grass, plants hetero- different, other hex- six hibern- winter hidr- sweat hipp- horse hist- tissue holo- entire, whole homo- (Latin) man, human homo- (Greek) same, alike hort- garden hydr- water hygr- moist, wet hyper- above, beyond over hyph- weaving, web hyphno- sleep hypo- below, under, less hyster- womb, uterus -iae person afflicted with disease -iasis disease, abnormal condition -ic (adjective former) -chthy- fish ign- fire in-, il-, im-, ir- not in-, il-, im-, ir- to, toward, into in- very, thoroughly -ine of or pertaining to infra- below, beneath inter- within, inside intra- between -ism a state or condition
- 2. iso- equal, same -ist person who deals with -it is inflammation, disease -ium refers to a part of the body -kary- cell nucleus kel- tumor, swelling kerat- horn kilo- thousand kine- move lachry- tear lact- milk lat- side leio- smooth -less without leuc-, leuk- white, bright, light lign- wood lin- line lingu- tongue lip- fat lith-, -lite stone, petrifying loc- place -log- word, speech -logist one who studies -logy study of lumin- light -lys, -lyt, -lyst decompose, split, dissolve macr- large malac- soft malle- hammer mamm- breast marg- border, edge mast- breast med- middle meg- million, great mela-, melan- black, dark -mer part mes- middle, half, intermediate met-, meta- between, along, after -meter, -metry measurement micro- small, millionth milli- thousandth mis- wrong, incorrect mito- thread mole- mass mono- one, single mort- death mot- move morph- shape, form multi- many mut- change my- muscle myc- fungus mycel- threadlike myriad- many moll- soft nas- nose necr- corpse, dead nemat- thread neo- new, recent neprho- kidney -ner- moist, liquid neur- nerve noct-, nov- night -node knot -nom-, -nomy ordered knowledge, law non- not not- back nuc- center ob- against ocul- eye oct- eight odont- tooth -ond form, appearance olf- smell oligo- few, little -oma abnormal condition, tumor omni- all onc- mass, tumor oo- egg opthalm- eye opt- eye orb- circle, round, ring -orium, -ory place for something ornith- bird orth- straight, correct, right oscu- mouth -osis abnormal condition oste- bone oto- ear -ous full of ov- egg oxy- sharp, acid, oxygen pachy- thick paleo- old, ancient palm- broad, flat pan- all par-, para- beside, near, equal path-, -pathy disease, suffering -ped- foot -ped- child pent- five per- through peri- around permea- pas, go phag- eat pheno- show -phil- loving, fond of phon-, -phone sound -phore,, pher- bear, carry photo- light phren- mind, diaphragm phyc- seaweed, algae phyl- related group -phyll leaf physic- nature, natural qualities phyt-, phyte platn pino- drink pinni- feather plan- roaming, wandering plasm-, -plast- form, formed into platy- flat pleur- lung, rib, side pneumo- lungs, air -pod foot ply- many, several por- opening port- carry post- after, behind pom fruit pre- before, ahead of time prim- first pro- forward, favoring, before p[roto- first, primary pseudo- false, deceptive psych mind pter- having wings or fins pulmo- lung puls- drive, push pyr- heat, fire quadr- four quin- five radi- ray re- again, back rect- right, correct ren- kidney ret- net, made like a net rhag-, -rrhage burst forth rhe-, rrhea flow rhin- nose rhiz- root rhodo- rose roto- wheel rubr- red sacchar- sugar sapr- rotten sarc- flesh saur- lizard schis-, schiz- split, divide sci- know scler- hard -scop- look, device for seeing -scribe, -script write semi- half, partly sept- partition, seven -septic infection, putrefaction sess- sit sex- six -sis condition, state sol- sun solv- loosen, free som-, somat-, -some body somn- sleep son- sound spec-, spic- look at -sperm- seed -spher- ball, round spir-, -spire breathe -spor- seed stat-, -stasis standing, placed, staying stell- stars sten- narrow stern- chest, breast stom-, -stome mouth strat- strat stereo- solid, 3-dimensional strict- drawn tight styl- pillar sub- under, below super-, sur- over, above, on top sym-, syn- together tachy- quick, swift tarso- ankle tax- arrange, put in order tele- far off, distant telo- end terr- earth, land tetr- four thall- young shoot -the-, -thes- put -thel- cover a surface therm- heat -tom- cut, slice toxico- poison top- place trache- windpipe trans- across tri- three trich- hair -trop- turn, change -troph- nourishment, one who feels turb- whirl -ul-, -ule diminutive, small ultra- beyond uni- one ur- urine -ura tail vas- vessel vect- carry ven-, vent- come ventr- belly, underside -verge turn, slant vig- strong vit-, viv- life volv- roll, wander -vor- devour, eat xanth- yellow xero- dry xyl- wood zo-, -zoa animal zyg- joined together zym- yeast