Medical Terminology Flashcards: Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots
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Medical Terminology Flashcards: Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots
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About this deck
Most medical words are built from a small set of parts. Learn the prefix, the root and the suffix, and terms like "pericarditis" or "hepatomegaly" stop being foreign. This deck has 75 of the most common word parts, each with its meaning and an example term.
The cards are grouped roughly as prefixes first, then body-part roots, then suffixes for conditions and procedures. Spaced review mixes them up once you start remembering them.
The deck suits nursing, CNA, medical assistant, EMT, coding and pre-med courses, and anyone preparing for a medical terminology exam.
Study tips
- Break every new term into parts before you guess: peri / card / itis = around + heart + inflammation.
- Watch for look-alikes: hyper- (above) vs hypo- (below), -ectomy (removal) vs -ostomy (opening) vs -otomy (cutting into).
- Turn on reverse cards so you practise building terms from meanings, not just decoding them.
- Add the terms from your own course as extra cards; the word parts will keep repeating.
All 75 cards
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| a-, an- | Without, absence of (e.g. anemia) |
| ab- | Away from (e.g. abduction) |
| ad- | Toward (e.g. adduction) |
| brady- | Slow (e.g. bradycardia) |
| tachy- | Fast (e.g. tachycardia) |
| dys- | Painful, difficult, abnormal (e.g. dyspnea) |
| endo- | Within, inside (e.g. endoscopy) |
| epi- | Upon, above (e.g. epidermis) |
| hemi- | Half (e.g. hemiplegia) |
| hyper- | Above normal, excessive (e.g. hypertension) |
| hypo- | Below normal, under (e.g. hypoglycemia) |
| inter- | Between (e.g. intercostal) |
| intra- | Within (e.g. intravenous) |
| peri- | Around (e.g. pericardium) |
| poly- | Many, much (e.g. polyuria) |
| post- | After (e.g. postoperative) |
| pre- | Before (e.g. prenatal) |
| sub- | Below, under (e.g. subcutaneous) |
| neo- | New (e.g. neonatal) |
| macro- | Large (e.g. macrocyte) |
| micro- | Small (e.g. microscope) |
| leuk/o | White (e.g. leukocyte) |
| erythr/o | Red (e.g. erythrocyte) |
| cyan/o | Blue (e.g. cyanosis) |
| cardi/o | Heart (e.g. cardiology) |
| hepat/o | Liver (e.g. hepatitis) |
| nephr/o, ren/o | Kidney (e.g. nephrology, renal) |
| gastr/o | Stomach (e.g. gastritis) |
| enter/o | Small intestine (e.g. enteritis) |
| col/o | Colon, large intestine (e.g. colonoscopy) |
| pulmon/o, pneum/o | Lung (e.g. pulmonary, pneumonia) |
| oste/o | Bone (e.g. osteoporosis) |
| arthr/o | Joint (e.g. arthritis) |
| my/o | Muscle (e.g. myalgia) |
| neur/o | Nerve (e.g. neuropathy) |
| encephal/o | Brain (e.g. encephalitis) |
| derm/o, dermat/o | Skin (e.g. dermatitis) |
| ophthalm/o | Eye (e.g. ophthalmology) |
| ot/o | Ear (e.g. otitis) |
| rhin/o | Nose (e.g. rhinitis) |
| hem/o, hemat/o | Blood (e.g. hematology) |
| angi/o, vas/o | Vessel (e.g. angioplasty, vasodilation) |
| cyst/o | Bladder, sac (e.g. cystitis) |
| hyster/o | Uterus (e.g. hysterectomy) |
| mamm/o, mast/o | Breast (e.g. mammogram, mastectomy) |
| thorac/o | Chest (e.g. thoracotomy) |
| cephal/o | Head (e.g. cephalgia) |
| cost/o | Rib (e.g. intercostal) |
| lip/o | Fat (e.g. lipoma) |
| glyc/o | Sugar (e.g. hyperglycemia) |
| path/o | Disease (e.g. pathology) |
| cyt/o | Cell (e.g. cytology) |
| -itis | Inflammation (e.g. appendicitis) |
| -algia, -dynia | Pain (e.g. neuralgia) |
| -ectomy | Surgical removal (e.g. appendectomy) |
| -otomy | Cutting into, incision (e.g. tracheotomy) |
| -ostomy | Surgical creation of an opening (e.g. colostomy) |
| -plasty | Surgical repair (e.g. rhinoplasty) |
| -scopy | Visual examination (e.g. endoscopy) |
| -gram | Record, image (e.g. electrocardiogram) |
| -graphy | Process of recording (e.g. mammography) |
| -logy | Study of (e.g. cardiology) |
| -megaly | Enlargement (e.g. hepatomegaly) |
| -oma | Tumor, mass (e.g. carcinoma) |
| -osis | Abnormal condition (e.g. cyanosis) |
| -pathy | Disease (e.g. neuropathy) |
| -penia | Deficiency (e.g. leukopenia) |
| -plegia | Paralysis (e.g. quadriplegia) |
| -rrhea | Flow, discharge (e.g. diarrhea) |
| -emia | Blood condition (e.g. anemia) |
| -pnea | Breathing (e.g. apnea) |
| -uria | Urine condition (e.g. hematuria) |
| -centesis | Surgical puncture to remove fluid (e.g. amniocentesis) |
| -stasis | Stopping, controlling (e.g. hemostasis) |
| -cyte | Cell (e.g. leukocyte) |
Frequently asked questions
›Is this enough for a medical terminology course?
It covers the core word parts that appear in almost every introductory course. Your textbook will add system-specific terms; copy this deck and add them as you go.
›Why learn word parts instead of whole terms?
There are tens of thousands of medical terms but only a few hundred common parts. Knowing the parts lets you work out terms you have never seen.
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