Medical Terminology

Lesson 2

Look-Alike, Sound Alike Terms

• Arteri/o artery

• Ather/o plaque or fatty substance

• Arthr/o joint

• ileum – part of the small intestine (remember that the med term for intestines is “enter” and it has an “e” like ileum.

• ilium is part of the hip bone – you can see the ilium when you lay on your back..it’s the bones that are sticking up.

• Infection – an invasion of the body by a pathogen. It may be local or affect the entire body

• Inflammation – a localized response to injury or destruction of tissues. The usual indications of inflammation are (1) redness, (2) heat, (3) swelling (edema) and (4) pain.

• The suffix –itis means inflammation; however it also is often used to indicate infection.

• Laceration – a torn, ragged wound

• Lesion – a pathological change of the tissue due to disease or injury

• Mucous – an adjective that describes the specialized mucous membranes that line the body cavities and some organs

• Trachea mucous membrane

• Mucus is a noun and is the name of the substance secreted by the mucous membranes. (you can probably figure out a secretion that comes out of the nose….that’s mucus)

• Myc/o – fungus. Mycosis means any disease caused Athlete’s Foot (Tinea

Pedis) by a fungus (osis = abnormal condition myc= fungus)

• Myel/o – bone marrow or spinal cord

• My/o - muscle

• -ologist – specialist. A gerontologist is a specialist in treating the elderly.(geront means old age)

• -ology – the study of. Cardiology is the study of the heart.

• Palpation – examination technique when the examiner uses the hands to feel the size and consistency of certain body parts.

• Palpitation – pounding or racing heart

• Prostate – male gland that surrounds the urethra

• Prostrate – means to be lying flat or be overcome with exhaustion

• Pyel/o – renal pelvis (part of the kidney)

pyelogram

• py/o – pus

• pyoderma (pus-producing » disease of the skin)

• Pyr/o – fever or fire (pyretic means pertaining to fever) (pyrosis – abnormal condition of fire…..also known as heartburn)

• Supination – rotating the forearm so the palm faces upward or forward

• Suppuration – formation or discharge of pus MRSA

• Triage – the medical screening of patients to determine the priority of need

• Trauma – wound or injury. These are the types of injuries that occur in accidents, shootings, natural disasters, or fire.

• Viral – pertaining to a virus (vir means virus or poison, al means pertaining to)

» human immunodeficiency virus

• Virile – possessing masculine traits

A few more word roots…these indicate color• Cyan/o – blue

(cyanosis)

• Erythr/o – red erythrema

• Leuk/o – white leukocyte

• melan/o – blackmelanoma

• Poli/o – gray

Poliomyelitis affects the gray matter of the spinal cord