Medical Terminology:
Prefixes Hints & Memory Tools
1. ab
-When children are abducted, they are taken away from their family.
-The b in ab is facing away from the a.
2. ad
-The d in ad is facing toward the a.
3. a, an
-The medical definition of apnea is without breathing/breath.
4. ante
-“Lady Antebellum” is actually a woman that’s living in a time period before war.
5. anti
-Antibiotics work against germs by trying to kill them.
-Norton Antivirus protects your computer against viruses.
6. aut
-My autobiography was written by myself about myself.
-Unlike manual transmission (”straight-gears”), vehicles with automatic transmissions change gears by themselves.
7. bi
-Bicycles have two wheels.
-A bilateral condition affects both sides of the body. (Example: bilateral mastectomy)
-In algebra, a binomial is a problem that has two terms that involve addition, subtraction, etc. (example: 2w+9a)
8. brady
-I bet Tom Brady, the football player, is slow at math.
-Bradycardia is a slow heartbeat.
9. circum
-The circumference of a circle is the distance around its outer curve.
-A procedure that males go through at birth is circumcision, which is the foreskin is trimmed from around the penis.
10. contra
-When having a CT (type of diagnostic scan), some people have to drink a contrast (dye) that makes certain organs stand out against the others.
-If you tell others not to drink alcohol, but you still drink alcohol- aren’t you contradicting yourself?
-Birth control pills are contraceptives because they work against pregnancy.
11. di
-When you dissect an animal, you cut it into two sections.
12. diplo
-If you don’t study hard in high school, it will take you double the normal amount of time to get your diploma!
13. dys
-Dyslexia is condition that makes reading, writing, and spelling difficult.
-Dysmenorrhea is a gynecological medical condition of pain during menstruation.
14. ecto
-If it’s 20°F and snowing, it’s cold ecto.
-Ecto and exo are synonyms.
15. endo/intra
-Doctors use endoscopes to see inside the body.
16. epi
-The epidermis is the upper layer of skin.
17. ex
-Once a boyfriend/girlfriend becomes an exboyfriend/exgirlfriend, they’re usually “out of the picture” when it comes to your life.
18. hemi
-A hemisphere is half of the earth (Northern and Southern Hemispheres.)
19. hyper
-When a little kid is hyper, they seem to have an excessive or a more than normal amount of energy.
20. hypo
-Has the opposite meaning of hyper
-A person with hypothermia has a body temperature below the normal amount. (Normal body temp. is 98.6° F)
21. inter
-Intercontinental trips consist of tours between or among certain continents.
22. later
-If a person is having problems with both of their ears, which are located on the sides of their head, their problem is bilateral.
-When cleaning the leaves out of a house’s gutters, you’ll need to place the later (I actually mean “ladder” but later and ladder sound alike) on the side
of the building.
23. lipo
-When people get liposuction, fat is removed from their body.
24. mal
-When a tumor is malignant, this could be bad news for the patient.
- Doctors with several malpractice lawsuits apparently have a difficult time doing their job correctly.
Medical Terminology:
Prefixes Hints & Memory Tools
25. mega/macro
-Just simply think about the term: MEGA… sounds BIG, doesn’t it?
-Hepatomegaly is an enlarged liver.
- Macro is the opposite of micro… You DO NOT use MACROscopes to look at small things! (but FYI, there’s no such thing as a macroscope)
26. micro
-Microscopes are used to look at small, tiny things.
-Compare these two terms: micro and MACRO, see the difference?
27. mono/uni
-There’s only one universe.
-In algebra, a monomial is one, single term that doesn’t involve addition, subtraction, etc. (example: 9xyz)
28. neo
-Health care workers that work in the neonatology department will work with newborn babies.
29. ortho
-Orthodontists make your teeth straight by applying braces to them.
-Orthopedic doctors can help make your bones straight and better aligned.
30. peri
-Pericarditis is inflammation around the heart.
-Perimeter is the distance around the outside of an object.
31. poly
-In algebra, polynomials contain many terms that involve addition, subtraction, etc. (example: 3xyz + 3xy2z - 0.1xz - 200y + 0.5)
32. post
-Postop (postoperative) means after operation/surgery. It’s the opposite of preop.
-The postal (mail) service usual brings you your mail sometime after you were expecting its arrival.
33. pre
-Preop (preoperative) means before operation/surgery. It’s the opposite of postop.
-Prefixes come before the main part of the word (and pre is actually a prefix!)
34. pro
-A projectile (bullet, missile, etc.) will move forward with great speed.
-The protagonist (the main character-“good guy”) of stories always moves forward with wisdom and dignity after a conflict.
35. pseudo
-A pseudopod is a temporary, false, “fake-feet” way of movement for certain microscopic organisms.
- TRUE or PSEUDO? Men can have babies… Answer: PSEUDO (the man that was on Oprah a few years ago doesn’t count- he was originally born a
woman, he just had special surgery!)
36. retro
-Retroperitoneal refers to the back of the peritoneum (the abdominal cavity/region.) Your kidneys are located in the retroperitoneal area.
-People who still wear retro clothing are behind when it comes to fashion.
37. semi
-Semipermiable membranes only let about half of all molecules pass through their walls.
-A person who is semiconscious is only half conscious/awake.
-A semester is half of the school year.
38. sub
-When you subtract 1 from 3, you end up with 2- which is below the original amount (3)
-Substandard means below the normal standard.
39. tachy
-Tachycardia is rapid, fast heartbeats.
-When someone is wearing a tachy (I actually mean “tacky” but tachy and tacky sound alike) outfit, you quickly move your eyes off of them.
40. tele
-You use your telephone to talk to people that are far away or distant.
-A long time ago, people sent telegrams to their families that lived far away.
41. thrombus
-Thrombocytes help to form clots and close wounds.
-Your blood consists of: leukocytes (WBC), erythrocytes (RBC), thrombocytes (platelets) and plasma
42. trans
-Transcontinental trips consist of tours across a continent.
-When transferring an object, you will move it across one surface to another.
43. ultra
-Ultrasounds use a frequency beyond the upper limit of human hearing.
-I bet Buckingham Palace, where the Queen of England lives, is ultraclean.