CHAPTER 3 – PREFIXES
OBJECTIVES
On completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Recognize how prefixes are used when building medical words.
Identify prefixes that are commonly used in medical terminology.
Be aware of prefixes that have more than one meaning.
Recognize prefixes that pertain to position or placement.
Identify selected prefixes that pertain to numbers and amounts.
Analyze, build, spell, and pronounce medical words
Complete the Study and Review section.
OUTLINE
I.
Overview of Prefixes
The term prefix means to fix before or to fix to the beginning of a word. A prefix
may be a syllable or a group of syllables. Prefixes are united with or placed at the
beginning of words to alter or modify their meanings or to create entirely new
words. Not all medical terms have a prefix, but when they do, the prefix will alter
or modify the meaning of the word; use examples.
A.
General Use Prefixes – these prefixes can be linked with a word root or a
suffix.
1. Selected Prefixes for General Use
Prefix
Meaning
a-, anno, without, lack of, apart
anti-, contraagainst
autoself
brachyshort
bradyslow
cac-, malbad
diathrough, between
dysbad, difficult, painful, abnormal
eugood, normal
ex-, exoout, away from
heterodifferent
homeosimilar, same, likeness, constant
hydrowater
microsmall
oligoscanty, little
panall
pseudofalse
sym-, syntogether, with
B.
Prefixes That Have More Than One Meaning – many prefixes have
more than one meaning; therefore, you will need to analyze the definition
of a medical word to correctly ascertain the correct meaning of the prefix.
1.
Selected Prefixes That Have More Than One Meaning
Meaning
Prefix
a-, anno, not, without, lack of, apart
adtoward, near, to
bitwo, double
dedown, away from
ditwo, double
diathrough, between, complete
dif-, disapart, free from, separate
dysbad, difficult, painful, abnormal
ec-, ectoout, outside, outer
end-, endowithin, inner
ep-, epiupon, over, above
eugood, normal
ex-, exoout, away from
extraoutside, beyond
hyperabove, beyond, excessive
hypobelow, under, deficient
inin, into, not
megalarge, great
metabeyond, over, between, change
parabeside, alongside, abnormal
polymany, much, excessive
postafter, behind
prebefore, in front of
probefore, in front of
superabove, upper
supraabove, beyond
C.
Prefixes That Pertain to Position or Placement – prefixes that carry
meanings such as away from, toward, before, above, and below are often
combined with roots and suffixes to describe a position or place.
1.
Prefixes That Pertain to Position or Placement
Prefix
Meaning
abaway from
adtoward, near, to
anaup, apart, backward
antebefore, forward
catadown
circum-, periaround
endowithin, inner
epiupon, above, over
exextrahyperhypointerintramesopararetrosubsupraD.
II.
out, away from
outside, beyond
above, beyond, excessive
below, under, deficient
between
within, into
middle
beside, alongside
backward
below, under, beneath
above, beyond, superior
Prefixes That Pertain to Numbers and Amounts – prefixes that carry
meanings such as both, ten, double, many, half, and none are often
combined with roots and suffixes to describe number or amounts.
1.
Prefixes That Pertain to Numbers and Amounts
Meaning
Prefix
ambiboth
bitwo, double
bintwice, two
centione hundredth
decaten
di(s)two, apart
millione-thousandth
monoone
multimany, much
nullinone
polymany
primifirst
quadrifour
semi-, hemihalf
trithree
unione
Building Your Medical Vocabulary
A.
Medical Words and Definitions – this section provides the foundation
for learning medical terminology. Medical words can be made up of four
types of word parts:
1.
Prefix (P)
2.
Root (R)
3.
Combining Forms (CF)
4.
Suffixes (S)
By connecting various word parts in an organized sequence, thousands of
words can be built and learned. In the text, the word list is alphabetized so
one can see the variety of meanings created when common prefixes and
suffixes are repeatedly applied to certain word roots and/or combining
forms. Words shown in pink are additional words related to the content of
this chapter that have not been divided into word parts.
III.
Study and Review (pp. 38–39)