Human Anatomical Terminology – Essential Components

1. Prefixes Indicating Location, Direction, and Tendency

Prefix Meaning Example____________________________

Ab- from, away abnormal - away from normal

Ad- to, near, toward adrenal - near the kidney
Ante- before antepartum - before delivery of child
Brady- slow bradycardia - slow heart beat
Brev- short brevity - in a short time
Circum- around circumocular - around the eye
Co- with, together coordinate - work together
Con- with, together congenital - with birth
Contra- against contraindicated - not indicated
Counter- against counterirritant - against irritation
Dis- apart from disarticulated - taking a joint apart
Ect- outside ectonuclear - outside the nucleus
End- within endocardium - membrane lining inner heart
Epi- upon, on top of epidermis - upon the skin
Ex- out from exhalation - breathe out
Hypo- under, lower hypodermic - under the skin
Hyper- above, higher hyperactive - higher level activity
Im- not immature - not mature
In- not incurable - not curable
Infra- under, below infrapatellar - below the knee
Peri- around pericardium - sac around the heart
Post- after postmortem - after death
Pre- before prenatal - before birth
Pro- before prognosis - a fore-knowing
Super- above, on top superciliary - above the eyebrow
Supra- above, on top suprapubic - above the pubic bone
Sym- with, together symphony - sounds played together
Syn- with, together synarthrosis - union of bones
Trans- through, across transurethral - through the urethra

2. Prefixes Indicating Number and Measurement

Prefix Meaning Example____________________________

Uni- one unicycle - one wheel

Mono- one mononuclear - one nucleus
Bi- two bilateral - two sides
Bin- two binocular - two eyes
Di- two dicephalic - two heads
Ter- three tertiary - the third part or stage
Tri- three trilobar - three lobes
Quadr- four quadriceps - muscle with four heads
Tetra- four tetracylcine - a four-ringed molecule

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Prefix Meaning Example____________________________

Poly- many polydactyly - many digits (more than 5)

Oligo- few oligosaccharide - few sugars linked together

Micro- small microscope - equipment to view small things

Macro- large macrophage - large eating cell
Mega- great, enormous megadontia - huge teeth

3. Prefixes Denoting Organs, Structures, Things

Prefix Meaning Example____________________________

Acoust- sound acoustics - quality of sound

Aud- ear, hear audition - to hear someone
Abdomin/o abdomen abdominal - relating to the abdomen
Acr/o extremity, limbs acromegaly - abnormally large limbs
Blast/o early, embryonic blastocyte - embryonic type cell
Aden/o gland adenopathy - disease of a gland
Angi/o vessel angiogram - picture of a vessel
Arthr/o joint arthritis - inflammation of a joint
Bucc/o cheek buccolabial - relating to cheek and lip
Cardi/o heart cardiology - study of the heart
Corp- body corpus callosum - connecting body
Chondr/o cartilage chondrocyte - cartilage cell
Cephal/o head cephalic - relating to the head
Cyst/o bladder cystoscopy - view of the bladder
Cyt/o cell cytokinesis - cell movement
Dent/o tooth dental - referring to teeth
Dermat/o skin dermatitis - skin inflammation
Duoden/o duodenum duodenal - relating to the duodenum
Encephal/o brain encephalitis - brain inflammation
Gastr/o stomach gastrointestinal - stomach and intestine
Hepat/o liver hepatitis - liver inflammation
Gloss/o tongue glossopathy - tongue disease
Glute- buttocks gluteus minimus - small buttocks muscle
Laryng/o larynx laryngitis - larynx inflammation
My/o muscle myocardium - heart muscle
Nephr/o kidney nephrologist - one who studies kidneys
Neur/o nerve neurosurgeon - surgeon of nervous system
Oste/o bone osteocyte - bone cell
Ot/o ear otitis media - middle ear inflammation
Ophthalm/o eye exophthalmos - eyes bulge out
Path/o disease pathological - relating to disease
Pneumon/o lung pneumonia - condition of the lung
Rhin/o nose rhinoplasty - reform the nose
Stomat/o mouth, opening stomatitis - mouth inflammation
Thorac/o chest or thorax thoracocentesis - puncture of the thorax

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4. Suffixes Denoting Relations, Conditions, and Agents

Suffix Meaning Example____________________________

-ac related to cardiac - related to the heart

-ious related to contagious - communicable by contact
-ic related to pyloric - related to pyloric valve of stomach

-ism condition mutism - condition of being mute

-osis condition scoliosis - S-shaped condition of backbone
-tion condition constipation - constant blockage condition

-ist agent (a person) opthalmologist - eye doctor

-or agent operator
-er agent examiner
-ician agent physician

5. Suffixes Used for Surgical and Operative Terminology

Suffix Meaning Example____________________________

-centesis to puncture amniocentesis - puncture the amnion (fluid)

-ectomy to cut out and remove appendectomy - cut out & remove appendix
-ostomy to cut and form opening colostomy - opening to drain the colon
-otomy to cut or slice tracheotomy - cut the trachea
-pexy to fix or repair gastropexy - repair the stomach
-plasty to reform or repair rhinoplasty - reform the nose
-rraphy to suture, sew ateriorraphy - suture an artery
-scopy to view otoscope - instrument to view ear

6. Other Suffixes Used in Anatomy

Suffix Meaning Example____________________________

-algia pain neuralgia - nerve pain

-cide kill or destroy germicide - substance that kills germs
-emia of the blood cholesterolemia - cholesterol in the blood
-gram writing or record electrocardiogram - record of heart action
-graph recording instrument electrocardiograph - records the heart
-itis inflammation appendicitis - appendix inflammation
-ology the study of ophthalmology - study of the eye
-oma tumor lymphoma - tumor of lymphatics
-orrhea flow menorrhea - flow during menstruation
-malacia soft osteomalacia - bone softening
-phasia speech dysphasia - slurred or blunted speech
-phobia fear arachnophobia - fear of spiders

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