Medical roots, prefixes and suffixes

Having knowledge of medical roots, prefixes and suffixes will help you to easily understand and remember medical terms.

▪ Some examples of how roots, prefixes and suffixes combine to form a medical term

arthr- + -o- + logy = arthrology
arthr- + itis = arthritis
eryth- +o+ cyte = erythrocyte

■ There are a few general rules about how they combine
- The -o- almost always acts as a joint-stem to connect two consonantal roots.
- The -o- is dropped when connecting to a vowel-stem
- Medical roots generally go together according to language, i.e., Greek prefixes occur with Greek suffixes and Latin prefixes with Latin suffixes

■ Multiple choice quizzes:
- 7 multiple choice quizzes

■ Flashcard:
- 9 decks for you to choose
- Flip a card to see a root's meaning

■ Other features:
- Roots of the day: learn 5 roots, prefixes, suffixes daily
- Search for a root, prefix, suffix based on text or meaning
- Random Roots: learn 5 random roots, prefixes, suffixes.
- List of 10000 medical terms, phrases, their definitions, roots
- Bookmark feature

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■■■ Note: This data is part of the list of classical roots, prefixes and suffixes offered in our app "Classical Root Dictionary". If you need a comprehensive list of general roots, prefixes and suffixes, download Classical Root Dictionary instead.