Medical suffixes and etymologizing (fancy-dancy) words in sentences

The first one, -itis, meaning “an inflammation of, an inflammatory disease of.”  In a medical context, that suffix has adopted the specialized sense of “inflammation” and occurs broadly ─ arthritis, bursitis, appendicitis, etc.

The second suffix, -oma which has a basic sense of cancer or tumor. Here’s something you need to become used to about all the medical terms we’re looking at. 

The third suffix, -osis (“the diseased condition of”). It’s what the suffix -sis (“the act of”) becomes when it checks into a hospital. And note please that, when an -osis word is turned into an adjective, it becomes -otic, like psychosis and psychotic.

ARTHR- (“joint, speech sound or articulation”) and going through SCLER- (“hard”).

Athrosclerosis [ är′thrō-sklə-rō′sĭs ] –  Stiffness or hardening of the joints.

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Next, let’s dive into -ectomy (“the surgical removal of”), which should look very familiar to you. It’s a combination of the prefix ec- (“out”) and the base TOM- (“cut”).

Like anatomy (“to cut up”) or eccentric (“out of the center”).

It means the doctor’s cutting something out.

The next suffix -tomy (“a surgical operation on, a surgical cutting of”) is just -ectomy without the -ec-, so -tomy’s happen when the doctor cuts into something but doesn’t take it out. And it doesn’t have to be a doctor necessarily. 

You should also know that there is a medical suffix -tome meaning “a surgical instrument for cutting,” as in a microtome (an instrument for making small cuts) or an osteotome used for cutting into bone.

The final suffix to discuss is -rrhea (“an abnormal discharge”). This is where we get diarrhea (“an abnormal discharge through” the body, is this case.”

amenorrhea (“without the month’s abnormal discharge)
“A-” = without
“Mens” = month
“-rrhea” = “abnormal discharge”

Now, let’s shift gears again and look at some more medical suffixes, beginning with -path (“one who suffers from a disease of, one who treats a disease”).  This suffix -path is actually a back formation of the next suffix -pathy (“disease of, treatment of disease of or by”).

“-iasis,” another “diseased condition” suffix, is an extension of the suffix you’ve probably seen already, “-sis”. Note: that it can sometimes mean just “the process of,” as in odontiasis, “the process of creating teeth (ODONT-).” That is, this suffix doesn’t always take on degeneration, another term you need to remember.

Next is the suffix -therapy, meaning “treatment of or by.” As you might guess, there’s a base THERAP- which we did not study, meaning “treat, attend to.” In ancient Greek a therapon is an attendant.

Next suffix that’s medical (-emia, “condition of/presence in the blood”) has many pathologies that can arise and flourish fromm this suffix… One of my favorites because it was one of my first suffixes to learn and fully understand.