Universal Suffixes

This is Unit Two of Medical Terminology, Part One of two: the universal suffixes, the endings recurring across three or more body systems rather than belonging to any single one of them. Unit One built the parts and the joining rules. This unit puts them to work on the last position in a term. A suffix decides what kind of thing the term names — a condition, a procedure, an instrument, or a specialty — and the root, which supplies the subject, never decides the kind. Most of these suffixes arrive in pairs, and the pairing is the teaching. Two suffixes attaching to the same roots make two terms a few letters apart that report opposite findings. Softening against hardening. A narrowed passage against a widened one. Too few of a cell against too many. One cluster runs to four members. Four suffixes all open with a double r, all attach to the same structures, and name bursting forth, a flow, a rupture, and surgical suturing. Three of those are findings and the fourth is an operation. Part One closes on three surgical endings separated by a single letter, where that letter decides whether a structure was taken out, opened and closed again, or left with an opening meant to stay. By the end you will be able to do five things. One: say what a suffix decides, and read the four general suffixes of disease. Two: tell softening from hardening, and narrowing from dilation. Three: keep the four double-r suffixes apart, and name the one that is a procedure. Four: read a blood condition, and tell a deficiency from an increase. Five: tell development from new formation, and choose among the three surgeries.

Five entries. The first states the claim the rest of the unit rests on: the ending, not the root, decides what kind of term you are holding. The four that follow are the general suffixes of disease, and they are general on purpose. They report inflammation, an abnormal condition, a mass, and a disease process nobody has yet specified. Three of those four form one cluster in the book, and they are a cluster because a single root will take all three and produce three different claims.

What the ending decides.

MedTerm 0061 What a Suffix Does to a Term

A suffix determines what kind of thing a medical term names: a condition, a procedure, an instrument, or a specialty. The root cardi names the heart, and carditis is a disease, cardiectomy a surgery, cardiology a field of study. The root never changes the kind. That is the suffix's work alone.

Inflammation of the structure.

MedTerm 0062 -itis: Inflammation

The suffix itis names inflammation of the structure its root identifies. Dermatitis is inflammation of the skin. Inflammation is not infection: an inflamed structure may or may not be infected, and itis makes no claim either way. Reading it as infection adds a fact the term does not carry.

An abnormal condition, unspecified.

MedTerm 0063 -osis: Abnormal Condition

The suffix osis names an abnormal condition or an increase, without saying that inflammation is present. Dermatosis is an abnormal condition of the skin, where dermatitis would be inflammation of it. Osis is the general term; where inflammation is meant, the term takes itis instead.

A tumor or a mass.

MedTerm 0064 -oma: Tumor or Mass

The suffix oma names a tumor or an abnormal mass of the tissue its root identifies. A lipoma is a mass of fat tissue. Oma does not mean cancerous. Most terms ending in oma name benign growths, and the suffix delivers no verdict on which kind is present.

Disease, nature unstated.

MedTerm 0065 -pathy: Disease

The suffix pathy names disease of the structure its root identifies, without specifying its nature. Neuropathy is disease of the nerves. Pathy is used where the disease process is unspecified or not yet identified, so a term in pathy records that something is wrong and stops there.

Three entries. Two of them mean the same thing, which is unusual enough to state plainly: algia and dynia are interchangeable in meaning, and which one a given term takes is fixed by convention rather than by any rule you could apply. The third names enlargement and says nothing whatever about why.

Pain in a structure.

MedTerm 0066 -algia: Pain

The suffix algia names pain in the structure its root identifies. Neuralgia is pain along a nerve. Algia is a symptom suffix: it names what the patient feels, not what is wrong. A term ending in algia reports a complaint, and leaves the cause an open question.

The other pain suffix.

MedTerm 0067 -dynia: Pain

The suffix dynia also names pain, and is interchangeable with algia in meaning. Mastodynia is pain in the breast. Which one a term uses is fixed by convention, not by rule: neuralgia is standard and neurodynia is not, so this pair is learned term by term rather than derived.

Enlargement of a structure.

MedTerm 0068 -megaly: Enlargement

The suffix megaly names enlargement of the structure its root identifies. Cardiomegaly is enlargement of the heart. Megaly describes size and not cause: an enlarged organ can have many different reasons behind it, and the term names the finding without proposing one of them.

Five entries and two reversing pairs. Softening and hardening describe what tissue has become. Narrowing and dilation describe what has happened to a passage. Both members of each pair attach to the same structures, so misreading one for the other reverses the finding rather than blurring it. Neither pair touches the root, which means the two terms in each pair name the same organ and report contrary things about it. The fifth entry names downward displacement, and carries a pronunciation rule with it.

Abnormal softening of tissue.

MedTerm 0069 -malacia: Softening

The suffix malacia names abnormal softening of the tissue its root identifies. Osteomalacia is softening of bone. Softening is a change in tissue quality, not in size or shape, which is what separates malacia from enlargement and from narrowing. Its opposite is the entry immediately after it.

Abnormal hardening of tissue.

MedTerm 0070 -sclerosis: Hardening

The suffix sclerosis names abnormal hardening of the tissue its root identifies. Arteriosclerosis is hardening of the arteries. Sclerosis and malacia are opposites and they attach to the same tissues. Reading one for the other does not soften a report, it reverses the finding the report carries, because the two suffixes take the same tissues and say contrary things about them.

A passage narrowed.

MedTerm 0071 -stenosis: Narrowing

The suffix stenosis names abnormal narrowing of the passage its root identifies. Angiostenosis is narrowing of a blood vessel. Stenosis describes a passage, so it attaches to hollow structures rather than solid ones, and that restriction is a useful check when a decode looks wrong.

A passage widened.

MedTerm 0072 -ectasis: Dilation

The suffix ectasis names abnormal dilation or expansion of the structure its root identifies. Bronchiectasis is dilation of the bronchi. Ectasis and stenosis are opposites: one passage widens, the other narrows. They take the same hollow structures, so the suffix is the only thing separating the two reports.

Drooping, or downward displacement.

MedTerm 0073 -ptosis: Drooping

The suffix ptosis names drooping, sagging, or downward displacement of the structure its root identifies. Nephroptosis is downward displacement of the kidney. The p is silent when ptosis opens a term and sounded when it follows a root, which is Unit One's silent-initial rule turning up on a suffix.

Four entries, and the book keeps them together because the spelling they share is exactly what makes them confusable. Rrhagia, bursting forth. Rrhea, a flow. Rrhexis, a rupture. Rrhaphy, a suture. Three of the four report something that was found; the fourth reports something a surgeon did. Nothing in the double r tells you which of those you are reading, so the double r marks the group and the letters after it carry every distinction inside the group.

Bursting forth.

MedTerm 0074 -rrhagia: Bursting Forth

The suffix rrhagia names bursting forth, most often excessive bleeding, from the structure its root identifies. Menorrhagia is excessive bleeding during menstruation. Four suffixes begin with a double r and name entirely different events, so the double r is an instruction to read further, not a meaning.

A flow or discharge.

MedTerm 0075 -rrhea: Flow or Discharge

The suffix rrhea names a flow or discharge from the structure its root identifies. Rhinorrhea is discharge from the nose. Rrhea is a flow, not a rupture and not a hemorrhage. The structure is intact, and something is coming out of it.

Rupture of a structure.

MedTerm 0076 -rrhexis: Rupture

The suffix rrhexis names rupture of the structure its root identifies. Angiorrhexis is rupture of a blood vessel. Rrhexis is the structure itself breaking, not something flowing out of it, and that is the whole difference between rrhexis and rrhea.

Surgical suturing.

MedTerm 0077 -rrhaphy: Suture

The suffix rrhaphy names surgical suturing of the structure its root identifies. Herniorrhaphy is surgical repair of a hernia by suturing. Rrhaphy is the only one of the four double-r suffixes naming a procedure rather than a finding, so it alone describes what was done rather than what was seen.

Three entries, and one root carries all three. Emia names a condition of the blood itself. Penia and cytosis then take that same root in opposite directions — too few of a cell, and too many of it — so leukopenia and leukocytosis stand one syllable apart and report findings that could hardly be further apart. Leukemia, leukopenia, leukocytosis: the book uses the one root for all three deliberately, because holding the root fixed is what makes the suffixes visible.

A condition of the blood.

MedTerm 0078 -emia: Blood Condition

The suffix emia names a condition of the blood described by its root. Leukemia is a condition of white blood cells in the blood. Emia names what is in the blood, not the organ producing it, so a term in emia points at the sample rather than at the source.

A deficiency.

MedTerm 0079 -penia: Deficiency

The suffix penia names an abnormal deficiency of the cell or substance its root identifies. Leukopenia is a deficiency of white blood cells. Penia is a shortage, and its opposite is an abnormal increase — which arrives as a different suffix on that same root, in the next entry.

An increase in cells.

MedTerm 0080 -cytosis: Increase in Cells

The suffix cytosis names an abnormal increase in the cells its root identifies. Leukocytosis is an increase in white blood cells. Cytosis and penia are opposites and both attach to the same roots, so one root with one suffix or the other gives two reports pointing in contrary directions. Nothing before the suffix changes between them.

Five entries. The first two separate an object from the condition of having it, and both halves turn up inside one term. Then a suffix for a contraction that passes, set against the lasting narrowing from a moment ago. Then a noun naming a process, beside the adjective built from it, which runs in two directions at once.

A stone.

MedTerm 0081 -lith: Stone

The suffix lith names a stone or calculus in the structure its root identifies. A ureterolith is a stone in the ureter. Lith names the stone itself, the object. A separate suffix names the condition of having one, and the next entry is where that suffix arrives.

The condition of having it.

MedTerm 0082 -iasis: Presence or Formation Of

The suffix iasis names the presence or formation of the thing its root identifies. Cholelithiasis is the presence of gallstones. Lith is the object and iasis is the condition of having it, and both appear inside that single term: the stone, and the state of carrying it.

A sudden involuntary contraction.

MedTerm 0083 -spasm: Involuntary Contraction

The suffix spasm names a sudden involuntary contraction of the structure its root identifies. Bronchospasm is involuntary contraction of the bronchi. A spasm is temporary. It describes an event, not a permanent change, and lasting narrowing of that same passage would take stenosis instead.

Origin, or production.

MedTerm 0084 -genesis: Origin or Production

The suffix genesis names the origin, formation, or production of the thing its root identifies. Carcinogenesis is the formation of cancer. Genesis is a noun suffix and names the process itself, which is what separates it from the adjective form arriving in the next entry.

Producing, or originating in.

MedTerm 0085 -genic: Producing or Originating

The suffix genic describes something that produces, or something that originates in, what its root identifies. Carcinogenic describes an agent that produces cancer. Genic runs both directions: cardiogenic means originating in the heart, not producing a heart, and the root alone will not settle which is meant.

Two entries, and this is the finest distinction in Part One. Trophy is existing cells changing size. Plasia is new cells being formed, so the count changes. The prefixes attaching to each are identical, which means hypertrophy and hyperplasia look like one word with a different tail, and are two different findings. Hyper sits on both, so the prefix tells you nothing here. Whatever separates the two terms is in the ending and nowhere else.

Development, or nourishment.

MedTerm 0086 -trophy: Development

The suffix trophy names development or nourishment of the tissue its root identifies. Hypertrophy is excessive development of a tissue. Trophy describes existing tissue growing or shrinking, not new tissue forming: the cells already present change size, and their number stays where it was.

New tissue formed.

MedTerm 0087 -plasia: Formation of Tissue

The suffix plasia names the formation or growth of new tissue of the kind its root identifies. Hyperplasia is an increase in the number of cells in a tissue. Trophy is cells changing size; plasia is cells changing number. The prefixes on each are identical, so the suffix carries that whole difference.

Three entries close Part One, and the book says outright that these three are confused with one another in every direction. Removal, incision, a permanent opening. Ectomy takes the structure out. Otomy cuts into it and closes it again. Ostomy cuts and leaves an opening, and one letter is all that separates the last two. The unit does not practise this trio until Part Two, which leaves three verbs to carry across the break: removed, opened, opened and left open.

Surgical removal.

MedTerm 0088 -ectomy: Excision

The suffix ectomy names surgical removal of the structure its root identifies. Appendectomy is surgical removal of the appendix. Three surgical suffixes are confused with one another in every direction, and ectomy is the one where the structure does not come back: nothing remains at that site.

An incision, nothing removed.

MedTerm 0089 -otomy: Incision

The suffix otomy names a surgical incision into the structure its root identifies, with nothing removed. Tracheotomy is a surgical incision into the trachea. An incision opens a structure. It does not take the structure out, so the structure remains and the opening does not.

A permanent opening created.

MedTerm 0090 -ostomy: Creating an Opening

The suffix ostomy names the surgical creation of a permanent opening into the structure its root identifies. Colostomy is a surgical opening from the colon to the body surface. Otomy cuts and closes; ostomy cuts and leaves an opening. One letter separates them, and it decides whether an opening remains.

Five things to carry out of Part One. The suffix decides what kind of thing a term names — a condition, a procedure, an instrument, a specialty — and the root never does. Itis is inflammation, and inflammation is not infection. Osis is an abnormal condition making no claim about inflammation. Oma is a mass and delivers no verdict on cancer. Pathy is disease whose nature has not been specified. Malacia is softening and sclerosis is hardening. Stenosis is a narrowed passage and ectasis a widened one. Each pair attaches to the same structures, so the suffix is the only thing separating them, and reading one for the other reverses the finding rather than blurring it. Four suffixes open with a double r and name different events: rrhagia bursting forth, rrhea a flow, rrhexis a rupture, rrhaphy surgical suturing. The first three report what was found. Only rrhaphy reports what was done. Emia names a condition of the blood rather than of the organ producing it. Penia is a deficiency and cytosis an increase, and both take the same roots, so leukopenia and leukocytosis sit one syllable apart and report opposite things. Trophy is existing cells changing size; plasia is new cells, so the number changes, and the prefixes on the two are identical. Then the three surgeries: ectomy removes, otomy opens and closes, ostomy leaves a permanent opening. Part Two takes up repair, fixation and puncture, the viewing and recording suffixes, the adjective endings, and the unit's worked problems and capstone.