Urinary & Reproductive Systems
Part 2 of 2: The Reproductive Systems. This unit runs past the 40-minute ceiling, so it ships in 2 lectures.
The narration between entries paraphrases; it never reads an entry aloud before the entry plays. Every entry in this lecture plays exactly as it does on its own page — same file, same speed, nothing laid over it.
What you can do after this
- Give both roots for the testis and both for the ovary, and say which language each came from
- Name the three combining forms for the uterus, and tell metr from the suffix metry
- Tell the suffix arche from the suffix pause, and say what the two mark together
- Tell an embryo from a fetus, and nat from part
- Tell perineal from peroneal by body region
What it covers
35 entries in 8 topics. Each number links to that entry on its own.
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1. The male gonad, and what surrounds it
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2. Fluid, cell, and sac
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3. The female system, and two more pairs
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4. The uterus, three ways
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5. Inside, and outside
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6. The breast, and the cycle
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7. Pregnancy and birth
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8. Two stages, a trap, and the close
Check yourself
What are the two roots for the testis and the two for the ovary, and where does each come from?
The testis takes orchi slash o and orchid slash o from Greek, and test slash o from Latin. The ovary takes ovari slash o from Latin and oophor slash o from Greek. This repeats the pattern Part One established at the kidney: both roots are current, and the established term decides which appears rather than the speaker choosing. Two plural and pronunciation notes ride along — one testis becomes two testes under the is to es rule, and oophor takes a double o with both sounded.
What are the three combining forms for the uterus, and what is metr often confused with?
Uter slash o from Latin, hyster slash o from Greek, and metr slash o, which names the uterus and specifically its tissue. All three appear in current terms, so none can be treated as archaic. Metr slash o is regularly confused with the suffix metry, which means measurement and is entirely unrelated — the resemblance is coincidence rather than shared origin. Hyster slash o carries a second caution: its appearance in hysteria reflects an abandoned theory, not any current meaning.
How do the suffixes arche and pause differ, and what do they mark together?
Arche names the beginning or first occurrence of what its root identifies; pause names the cessation or stopping of it. They are taught as a pair because both attach to the same root, men, and between them they bracket one process from its first occurrence to its end. Meeting either suffix alone should prompt the question of what the other one would name.
How do embryo and fetus differ, and how do nat and part differ?
Embry slash o names an embryo, the developing organism in its earliest stage; fet slash o names a fetus, the same organism after the embryonic stage. They are two stages of one development divided by time rather than by kind. Nat slash o names birth as an event and part slash o names the bearing or labour — the process rather than the moment. Neither of those two names the infant, which is a separate matter the terms do not cover.
How do perineal and peroneal differ?
By body region entirely. Perineal means pertaining to the perineum, the region between the external genitals and the anus. Peroneal means pertaining to the fibula, the lateral bone of the lower leg. Two letters separate them, and no rule in the decoding method distinguishes one from the other — like pyel and py in Part One, this pair has to be known rather than derived, and it is the reason the book places the two entries adjacently.
Lecture transcript
The narration as recorded, in order. Where an entry plays, the transcript links to it rather than reprinting it — the entry plays from its own file, unaltered, and says the same thing on its own page.
This is Unit Eleven of Medical Terminology, Part Two: the reproductive systems. Part One met the two-languages pattern once, at the kidney. This part meets it five more times — testis, ovary, uterus, vagina, breast. In every case both roots are current, and the established term decides which one appears. The uterus goes further and carries three. Two of them split by language and the third names the tissue specifically, and one of those three is a letter away from a suffix meaning measurement. Watch two roots that are used twice in the body. One names a fallopian tube and also the auditory tube in the ear; the other names the cervix of the uterus and also the neck. In both cases the rest of the term settles which is meant. And the part closes on a pair separated by two letters that name different body regions entirely — one pelvic, one in the lower leg. By the end you will be able to do five things. One: give both roots for the testis and the ovary. Two: name the three uterus forms. Three: tell arche from pause. Four: tell an embryo from a fetus. Five: tell perineal from peroneal.
Five entries. Two roots for the organ, then three structures around it, and one of those three carries a spelling trap that a spellchecker will not catch.
The Greek forms.
MedTerm 0676 orchi/o and orchid/o: Testis
The combining forms orchi slash o and orchid slash o both name a testis. One testis, two testes — the is to es plural rule from Unit One.
The Latin form.
MedTerm 0677 test/o: Testis
The combining form test slash o also names a testis, and comes from Latin. Orchi slash o is Greek and test slash o is Latin, and both name one structure.
Upon the testis.
MedTerm 0678 epididym/o: Epididymis
The combining form epididym slash o names the epididymis, the coiled duct lying upon each testis. The prefix epi places the structure upon the testis it drains.
Around the urethra.
MedTerm 0679 prostat/o: Prostate
The combining form prostat slash o names the prostate, the gland surrounding the male urethra. Prostate is the gland; prostrate, with an r, means lying face down and is unrelated.
The rounded end.
MedTerm 0680 balan/o: Glans
The combining form balan slash o names the glans, the rounded end of the penis. It names one structure and appears in few terms.
Three entries the book keeps deliberately apart, because ordinary usage runs them together. A fluid, the cells it carries, and the sac holding the organs that made them are three different things with three different roots.
The fluid.
MedTerm 0681 semin/o: Semen
The combining form semin slash o names semen, the fluid carrying sperm. Semen is the fluid, and a separate combining form names the cells within it.
The cell.
MedTerm 0682 spermat/o: Sperm
The combining forms sperm slash o and spermat slash o name sperm, the male reproductive cell. Spermat names the cell; semin names the fluid transporting it.
The sac.
MedTerm 0683 scrot/o: Scrotum
The combining form scrot slash o names the scrotum, the sac containing the testes. The scrotum is the sac; the testes are the organs within it.
Four entries. One names the system and the patient; two more repeat the Greek-and-Latin pattern at the ovary; and the fourth names a tube that shares its root with a structure in the ear.
The system-wide form.
MedTerm 0684 gynec/o: Woman
The combining form gynec slash o names a woman or the female reproductive system. The g is hard, so the term opens with a g sound rather than a j.
The Latin form.
MedTerm 0685 ovari/o: Ovary
The combining form ovari slash o names an ovary, and comes from Latin. A second combining form names the ovary and comes from Greek.
The Greek form.
MedTerm 0686 oophor/o: Ovary
The combining form oophor slash o also names an ovary, and comes from Greek. It takes a double o at the start, and both are sounded.
A root used twice.
MedTerm 0687 salping/o: Fallopian Tube
The combining form salping slash o names a fallopian tube, carrying an egg from ovary to uterus. It also names the auditory tube in the ear, and the rest of the term decides which is meant.
Four entries. Three roots for one organ, all current, and the third is a letter from a suffix meaning measurement. The fourth entry names the cervix, and that root is used twice in the body as well.
The Latin form.
MedTerm 0688 uter/o: Uterus
The combining form uter slash o names the uterus, and comes from Latin. Two further combining forms name the uterus, and all three appear in current terms.
The Greek form.
MedTerm 0689 hyster/o: Uterus
The combining form hyster slash o also names the uterus, and comes from Greek. Its appearance in hysteria reflects an abandoned theory, not a current meaning.
The tissue form.
MedTerm 0690 metr/o: Uterus
The combining form metr slash o also names the uterus, specifically its tissue. Metr slash o names the uterus; the suffix metry names measurement, and the two are unrelated.
The lower portion.
MedTerm 0691 cervic/o: Cervix
The combining form cervic slash o names the cervix, the lower narrow portion of the uterus. It also names the neck, and cervical appears in both senses.
Three entries. The vagina takes the Greek-and-Latin pair again, and the Greek form is one letter from a root belonging to the digestive system. The third entry marks the boundary between an internal canal and external structures.
The Greek form.
MedTerm 0692 colp/o: Vagina
The combining form colp slash o names the vagina, and comes from Greek. Colp slash o and col slash o differ by one letter and name different systems.
The Latin form.
MedTerm 0693 vagin/o: Vagina
The combining form vagin slash o also names the vagina, and comes from Latin. Colp slash o and vagin slash o name one structure, as Greek and Latin pairs do.
The external structures.
MedTerm 0694 vulv/o: Vulva
The combining form vulv slash o names the vulva, the external female genital structures. The vulva is external; the vagina is the internal canal.
Five entries. The breast pair divides by specialty rather than by meaning, which is unusual. Then menstruation, and two suffixes that bracket it — one marking a beginning and one a cessation, both attaching to the same root.
The Latin form.
MedTerm 0695 mamm/o: Breast
The combining form mamm slash o names the breast, and comes from Latin. A second combining form names the breast and comes from Greek.
The Greek form.
MedTerm 0696 mast/o: Breast
The combining form mast slash o also names the breast, and comes from Greek. Imaging terms take mamm; surgical terms tend to take mast.
The cycle.
MedTerm 0697 men/o: Menstruation
The combining form men slash o names menstruation or the menstrual cycle. Its appearance at the start of a term does not make it a prefix.
One end.
MedTerm 0698 -arche: Beginning
The suffix arche names the beginning or first occurrence of what its root identifies. Arche marks a beginning, and a different suffix marks a cessation.
The other end.
MedTerm 0699 -pause: Cessation
The suffix pause names the cessation or stopping of what its root identifies. Arche and pause mark the two ends of one process, and both attach to men.
Five entries, and each names something narrower than the English word suggests. The event is not the infant, the membrane is not the fluid, and the milk is not the gland. Reading each one at its stated width is the whole discipline here.
The event.
MedTerm 0700 nat/o: Birth
The combining form nat slash o names birth. It names the event of birth, not the infant.
The bearing.
MedTerm 0701 part/o: Bearing or Labour
The combining forms par slash o and part slash o name bearing offspring or giving birth. Nat slash o names the birth; part slash o names the bearing.
The state.
MedTerm 0702 gravid/o: Pregnancy
The combining form gravid slash o names pregnancy. Gravida counts pregnancies, and a separate term counts births.
The membrane.
MedTerm 0703 amni/o: Amnion
The combining form amni slash o names the amnion, the innermost membrane enclosing the fetus. The amnion is the membrane; the fluid within it is amniotic fluid.
The substance.
MedTerm 0704 lact/o: Milk
The combining form lact slash o names milk. It names the substance, not the gland producing it.
Six entries to finish. Two developmental stages divided by time rather than by kind, then a pair two letters apart naming a pelvic region and a leg bone, and then the unit's building entry and capstone, which run both systems together.
The earlier stage.
MedTerm 0705 embry/o: Embryo
The combining form embry slash o names an embryo, the developing organism in its earliest stage. Embryo names the earliest stage, and a later stage has its own term.
The later stage.
MedTerm 0706 fet/o: Fetus
The combining form fet slash o names a fetus, the developing organism after the embryonic stage. Embryo and fetus name two stages of one development, divided by time.
The pelvic region.
MedTerm 0707 Perineal: Pertaining to the Perineum
Perineal means pertaining to the perineum, the region between the external genitals and the anus. A term differing by two letters names a bone of the lower leg instead.
The leg bone.
MedTerm 0708 Peroneal: Pertaining to the Fibula
Peroneal means pertaining to the fibula, the lateral bone of the lower leg. Perineal is the pelvic region; peroneal is the lower leg — two letters, two body regions.
Building terms from both systems.
MedTerm 0709 Building Urinary and Reproductive Terms
The building entry works across both halves of the unit, assembling terms from the urinary forms of Part One and the reproductive forms of this part. It demonstrates that the two systems share suffixes and prefixes even where their roots do not overlap, which is why the book keeps them in one unit.
The capstone. Sixteen terms, decoded.
MedTerm 0710 Capstone: Sixteen Urinary and Reproductive Terms Decoded
Sixteen terms from both systems taken apart with the three-step decode from Unit One — suffix first, prefix second, roots last. The capstone draws on the universal suffixes of Unit Two and the prefixes of Unit Three throughout, so the terms resolve without any vocabulary that has not already been taught. Where a term contains one of this unit's look-alike pairs, the decode is what separates them.
Five things to carry out of Part Two. The testis takes orchi and orchid from Greek and test from Latin. The ovary takes ovari from Latin and oophor from Greek. In both cases the established term decides which root appears, exactly as it did for the kidney in Part One. The uterus takes three: uter from Latin, hyster from Greek, and metr for its tissue. All three are current. Metr is a letter from the suffix metry, which means measurement and has nothing to do with the uterus. The suffix arche marks a beginning and the suffix pause marks a cessation, and both attach to men. Between them they bracket one process from its first occurrence to its stopping. Embryo and fetus name two stages of one development, divided by time rather than by kind. And nat names the event of birth while part names the bearing — neither names the infant. Perineal is the region between the external genitals and the anus. Peroneal pertains to the fibula in the lower leg. Two letters separate two body regions, and no decoding rule will catch the difference. Unit Twelve turns to the nervous system, the senses, and behavioral health.
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