2.

10: LEARN MEDICAL

TERMINOLOGY AND HUMAN
ANATOMY
In our previous courses, you may have noticed a number of complex anatomy and physiology
terms getting tossed around. Our complete medical terminology list will help you learn some of
the most common anatomical and surgical terms by looking at prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

Let’s start off with the basics.

NUMBERS
Many times you’ll encounter a medical term that contains a prefix that describes a number. Here
are a few of the most common.

Prefix Meaning Example

Mono-, uni- One Unilateral

Bi- Two Bilateral

Tri- Three Triplicate

DIRECTIONS AND POSITIONS

In medicine, you’ll often encounter terms that describe where a procedure or condition takes
place on the body.

Prefix Meaning Example

Ab- Away from Abduction

Ad- Toward Adduction

Ecto-, exo- Outside Ectoparasite

 Endo- Inside Endoderm

Epi- Upon Epinenephrine

There are also a number of positional and directional medical terms that are not suffixes or
prefixes, but are instead standalone words. Here is a short medical billing terminology list of
some of the most valuable.

Word Meaning Example

Anterior or ventral At or near the front surface of the body “Anterior nerves”

Posterior or dorsal At or near the real surface of the body “Dorsal surface of the hand”

Superior Above “Superior (cranial) aspect”

Inferior Below “Inferior aspect”

Lateral Side “Lateral aspect”

Distal Farthest from center “Axons distal to the injury”

Proximal Nearest to center Proximal end of the forearm”

BASIC ANATOMY TERMS

This medical billing terminology list will help you navigate the CPT and ICD manuals, decipher
doctor’s reports, and give you a more thorough understanding of the medical practice in general.
Let’s look now at a few basic terms for the regions of the body. You might recognize some of
them.

Word Body Part

Abdominal abdomen

Buccal Cheek
 Cranial Skull

Digital Fingers and toes

Femoral Thigh

Gluteal Buttock

Hallux Great toe

Inguinal Groin

Lumbar Loin (lowest part of the spine below the false ribs and between the hips)

Mammary Breast

Nasal Nose

Occipital Back of head

Pectoral Chest

Sternal Breastbone

Thoracic Chest

Umbilical Navel

Ventral Belly

CONDITIONS
Now that we’ve taken a look at the terms that describe the major regions of the body, let’s turn
to some conditions that may affect those body parts in this medical terminology list.
 Prefix Meaning Example

Ambi- Both Ambidextrous

Dys- Bad, painful, difficult Dyslexia

Eu- Good, normal Eukaryote

Homo- Same Homogenous

Iso- Equal, same Isotope

Mal- Bad, poor Malnutrition

Suffix Meaning Example

-algia Pain Myalgia

-emia Blood Hypoglycemia

-itis Inflammation Bronchitis

-lysis Destruction, break down Dialysis

-oid Like Haploid

-opathy Disease of Neuropathy

-pnea Breathing Sleep apnea

SURGICAL PROCEDURES
Let’s wrap up this vocabulary review with a look at some of the most common surgical
procedures. Since it’s always imperative to list where on the body a surgical procedure was
performed, these vocabulary terms are a small but useful addition to this section. Memorize this
medical terminology suffixes list and you’ll know instantly what kind of procedure was
performed, even if you don’t know exactly what the procedure did.
 Suffix Meaning Example

-centesis Puncture a cavity to remove fluid Amniocentesis

-ectomy Surgical removal or excision Hysterectomy

-ostomy A new permanent opening Tracheostomy

-otomy Cutting into, incision Gastrotomy

-orrhaphy Surgical repair or suture Gastrorrhaphy

-opexy Surgical fixation Nephropexy

-oplasty Surgical repair Rhinoplasty

-otripsy Crushing or destroying Lithotripsy

Note that you can also use your CPT manual to study human anatomy vocabulary. Current CPT
manuals come with instructive illustrations, diagrams, and charts all throughout the book,
including a medical terminology abbreviations list. In the front of the CPT manual, you should
be able to find a list of anatomical illustrations. Bookmark this page and refer to it in case you’re
looking for an illustration of the eye or inner ear, or need to remember which artery goes where.
Also, be sure to download our ebook for more detailed tables on medical terminology.

In the next section, find our medical terminology abbreviations list.