Building Medical words

• a or an or ana - without
» a-calculia (can't do math)
» a-kinesia (without movement)
» a-phasia (without speech)
» a-plasia (not formed or not formed normally) e.g. aplastic anemia

• brady - slow:
» brady-cardia (slow pulse)
» brady-kinesia (slow or paucity of movements)

• dys - abnormal, painful
» dys-function
» dys-phagia (abnormal eating/swallowing)
» dys-phasia (abnormal speech - also aphasia)
» dys-plasia (abnormal cells, tissue, organ)
» dys-pepsia (impaird or painful digestion)
» dys-pnea (bad breathing, shortness or breath or SOB, "air hunger"

• lepid - scales
» lepido-ptera (scale wing)

• lepto - thin
» lepto-meninges (pia and arachnoid)

• morphos - shape
» ana-morphic (without shape)
» dys-morphic (badly shaped)
» poly-morphic (many shapes)

• oligo - few
» oligo-dendrocytes (like astrocyte, but fewer branches)



• pachy - thick
» pachy-derm (thick skin)
» pachy-meninges (the dura mater)

• plasia - to create, form, shape, or mold
» ana-plasia (de-differentiated)
» desmo-plasia (producing connective tissue or scar)
» dys-plasia (abnormal cells, often immature)
» hyper-plasia (increased number of 'normal' cells)
» hyper-trophy (increased size of cells)
» meta-plasia (changing from one cell type to another)
» neo-plasia (new growth)


• ptera or ptery - wing
» pterygoid (wing like) bone

• poly - many
» poly-morpho nuclear (many shapes of nuclei) leukocytes

• ptosis - falling (e.g. falling of leaves)
» ptosis - drooping eyelid
» ptotic kidney - lower than normal location
» apoptosis - normal programmed cell death

• orth - straight or correct
» ortho-pedics (straight child, correcting crippled children)
» ortho-gonal (usually means at 90 degree angle)

• tachy - fast:
» tachy-cardia (rapid pulse)
» tachy-pnea (fast breathing)

• trophy - nourishment, but used to mean growth
» dys-trophy (decreased nutrition/growth)
» hyper-trophy (increased size of organ/tissue)
» hypo-trophy (decreased size of organ/tissue)