Medical Terminology / Unit 1 MedTerm 0015 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Decoding Rule: Read the Suffix First
Captions available
The idea
Decoding a medical term begins at the suffix, because the suffix names what kind of thing the term is.
In practice
In hepatomegaly, the suffix megaly says the term names an enlargement before its location is known.
Where people slip
The suffix gives the category, never the location. Location lives in the root.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Medical Terminology