Root, Suffix and Prefix Sections

¶ … root, suffix and prefix sections of the six following words what the words mean. Be sure to note prefixes and other clues for any changes:

Dermatitis

Hemothorax

Gastroenterology

Cardiac Arrest

Intraosseous Infusion

Non-oncological

As Greek was the language spoken at Universities until the 1900s, many of our scientific and medical terms come from that language. Root words are those basic parts of the body, such as the five major "cavities" of the body which hold internal organs: The cranial cavity (in the head), the Dorsal cavity (the back and head), the Vertebral cavity, the Ventral cavity or trunk of the body, which includes the Thoracic cavity (or chest) and the Abdominopelvic cavity, which is in the lower half of the trunk of the body and involves the pelvis. The suffix is the latter part of a combined word (such as "itis") and the prefix (such as "non") is attached to the beginning of the word (Kluwer, p. 32).

Dermatitis: The Greek word Dermatos means "skin," so Dermatitis is n inflammation of the skin as anything ending with itis means it is inflamed. Another example: colitis is a disease affecting the colon.

2. Hemothorax: A collection of blood in the thorax (interstitial and air spaces of the lungs). "Thorax" is the Greek word for "chest." "Hemo" is the Greek word for "blood" so anything beginning with "Hemo" means it has to do with blood. Given this reasoning, if we look at the word Pneuma, P and n together means this is a word of Greek origin and the "P" isn't pronounced. The word means "breath, spirit or wind." So pneumothorax means a collection of air in the thorax (pleural cavity) that leads to partial or complete lung collapse.

3. Gastro is the Greek word for "stomach," and "Entero" means "intestines." Anything ending with ology means it is being studied. So gastroenterology is the study of the stomach and intestines.

4. Cardiac is the Greek word for "heart," and we use the two words interchangeably. "Arrest" means stop in Greek, so arrested behavior means the behavior has been stopped. In this case, the "cardiac" or heart has been "arrested" or stopped.