In 1886 the Harvard physician Reginald Heber Fitz published a paper on perforating inflammation of the vermiform appendix, with special reference to its early diagnosis and treatment. He is credited with introducing the word for it: appendicitis. Look at how it's built. Appendix is Latin; -itis is Greek. One suffix turned a body part into a diagnosis.
That's the job suffixes do in medical terminology. The root says where; the suffix says what is happening there: inflamed, enlarged, painful, removed, examined. Almost all of the suffixes in this deck are Greek, even when the root in front of them is Latin.
Building a term
A medical term is usually root + combining vowel + suffix. The combining vowel, usually o, sits between a root and a suffix that starts with a consonant: gastr-o-scopy, cardi-o-logy. Before a suffix that starts with a vowel, it drops: gastritis, not gastroitis; arthralgia, not arthroalgia.
So you can read the word from the end: -logy, study; cardi-, heart. Cardiology is the study of the heart.
Surgery: cutting, opening, repairing
Four suffixes are easy to confuse, and the difference matters:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ectomy | removal | tonsillectomy |
| -otomy | an incision | tracheotomy |
| -ostomy | a new opening | colostomy |
| -plasty | repair or reshaping | rhinoplasty |
-ectomy is ek, "out", plus tome, "cutting": cutting something out. -otomy has the cutting without the "out". -ostomy comes from stoma, "mouth", so the surgeon makes a new mouth, an opening. In practice tracheotomy and tracheostomy are sometimes used loosely for the same procedure; strictly, the first is the incision and the second the opening. British usage also often prefers appendicectomy to appendectomy.
Conditions: what is wrong
- -itis, inflammation: tonsillitis, gastritis
- -algia, pain: neuralgia, arthralgia
- -osis, a condition or process, often abnormal: cyanosis
- -oma, a swelling or mass, usually a tumor: lipoma, carcinoma
- -pathy, disease: neuropathy
- -megaly, enlargement: cardiomegaly, hepatomegaly
- -plegia, paralysis: hemiplegia, paraplegia
- -trophy, growth: hypertrophy, atrophy
In Greek, -itis was an adjective ending meaning "of" or "belonging to", used with the word for disease understood. Arthritis was "the joint disease" (in Greek it could also mean gout); in medical use today, -itis means inflammation.
Blood and cells
- -emia, a condition of the blood: leukemia, uremia
- -penia, too few: leukopenia, neutropenia
- -cyte, a cell: erythrocyte, leukocyte
- -lysis, breaking down: hemolysis
- -rrhage, heavy bleeding: hemorrhage
- -rrhea, flow: rhinorrhea
British spelling keeps older vowels: anaemia, diarrhoea.
Looking and recording
- -scopy, the examination; -scope, the instrument: colonoscopy, stethoscope
- -gram, the record; -graph, the instrument; -graphy, the process: electrocardiogram, electrocardiograph, mammography
- -ology, the study; -ologist, the specialist: dermatology, dermatologist
Latin roots, Greek suffixes
Medicine mixes the two languages freely. Appendicitis, tonsillectomy and mammogram all put a Greek suffix on a Latin root. Sometimes both versions survive: quadriplegia (Latin quadri-) and tetraplegia (Greek tetra-) mean the same thing.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up -ectomy, -otomy and -ostomy. Removal, incision, opening.
- Reading every -oma as cancer. A lipoma is usually benign, and a hematoma is pooled blood, not a tumor.
- Confusing -algia and -itis. Arthralgia is joint pain; arthritis is joint inflammation.
- Keeping the combining vowel before a vowel. Gastritis, not gastroitis.
Frequently asked questions
What does the suffix -itis mean?
Inflammation, as in tonsillitis or gastritis. It's Greek, and it attaches to Latin roots as well as Greek ones.
What is the difference between -ectomy and -otomy?
-ectomy means removing something; -otomy means cutting into it. An appendectomy removes the appendix; a laparotomy is an incision into the abdomen.
Are medical suffixes Greek or Latin?
Most are Greek, including -itis, -ectomy, -ology, -osis and -emia, even when the root is Latin.
What does -ology mean in medical terms?
The study of, from Greek -logia. A cardiologist specializes in the heart.
Try it
Cover the definitions and read each suffix aloud before you flip the card. Then recall: which suffix, from the Greek for "mouth", names a surgically made opening?