Axia College Material

Appendix B

Building a Medical Vocabulary Ch. 1

Complete activities A, B, & C.

A. Use the word bank below to build the medical word that corresponds to each definition in
problems 1-8. Click the grey box to begin typing.

-ic sub- -ectomy -oma

-pathy gastr/o- poly- -ous
hepat/o- ven/o- hemat/o- neur/o-
an- esthes/o- -ous appendic/o-
-megaly cutane/o- -ia intra-

1. Pertaining to the liver Hepatic

2. Pertaining to underneath the skin Subcutaneous

3. Surgical removal of the appendix Appendectomy

4. Pertaining to within the vein Intravenous

5. Disease of many nerves Neuropathy

6. Enlargement of the liver Hepatomegaly

7. Swelling of the blood Hematoma

8. Condition of not feeling synesthesia

B. Define the following word parts.

-ac Pertaining to -ar Pertaining to

-ary Pertaining to -ion Action; condition

-osis Condition; abnormal Peri- around

Condition; process
Hyper- Above; more than normal Brady- slow

Post- After, behind Anti- against

Dys- Painful, difficult, abnormal Laryng/o- Voice box

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C. In the following activity, break the medical word into its word parts. Using the word parts, create
a definition of the word. Write a sentence using the word in a medical context. Use the table to
record your answers.

Medical Word Prefix Combining form Suffix Definition

Etymology
ety Etym/o logy Is the study of history of words
Sentence: The Etymology of words can be a interesting way to develop a great vocabulary.

Mastectomy
mast Mast/0 omy Surgical removal of one or both breast.
Sentence: My grandmother was admitted to the hospital for a mastectomy to insure all traces of
cancer were removed.

Neuroma
neur Neur/o oma Tumor of the nerve
Sentence: Neuroma in the foot usually occurs between the third and fourth toe it is also refer to as
intermetatarsal neuroma.

Tachycardia: Tach
y Cardi/o ia Faster than normal heart rate
Sentence: The over the counter drug Metabolite has been linked to causing Tachycardia in women
over the age 40.

Endotracheal
endo Trache/o al Pertaining to within the trachea
Sentence: Due to a MVA my brother had to have a Endotracheal to allow him to breathe.

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