Medical Terminology Quiz
Three rounds of ten: prefixes, suffixes and word roots. Learn the parts and you can decode almost any medical word. Tap an answer to see if you’re right. A cheat sheet is at the bottom.
PrefixesSuffixesWord rootsCheat sheet
Round 1: Prefixes
Question 1 of 10
What does the prefix brady- mean?
- Fast
- Short
- Heavy
- Slow
Show answer
Answer: Slow. Bradycardia is a slow heart rate (under 60 a minute). From Greek bradys, slow.
Question 2 of 10
What does the prefix tachy- mean?
- Irregular
- Fast
- Strong
- Slow
Show answer
Answer: Fast. Tachycardia is a fast heart rate; tachypnoea is fast breathing.
Question 3 of 10
What does hyper- mean?
- Below or deficient
- Beside
- Above or excessive
- Within
Show answer
Answer: Above or excessive. Hypertension is high blood pressure; hyperglycaemia is too much glucose in the blood.
Question 4 of 10
What does hypo- mean?
- Below or deficient
- Around
- Above or excessive
- After
Show answer
Answer: Below or deficient. Hypoglycaemia is low blood glucose; hypothyroidism is an underactive thyroid.
Question 5 of 10
Which prefix means difficult, painful or abnormal?
- di-
- dys-
- dia-
- dis-
Show answer
Answer: dys-. Dyspnoea is difficult breathing; dysphagia is difficulty swallowing; dysuria is painful urination.
Question 6 of 10
Which prefix means around?
- peri-
- post-
- para-
- pre-
Show answer
Answer: peri-. The pericardium is the sac around the heart; perioral means around the mouth. Para- means beside.
Question 7 of 10
What does endo- mean?
- Against
- Outside
- Within or inside
- Through
Show answer
Answer: Within or inside. Endoscopy looks inside the body; the endometrium lines the inside of the uterus.
Question 8 of 10
What does poly- mean?
- Equal
- Few
- Half
- Many or much
Show answer
Answer: Many or much. Polyuria is passing a lot of urine; polycystic means many cysts.
Question 9 of 10
What does the prefix a- (or an-) mean?
- Again
- Without or absence of
- Double
- Towards
Show answer
Answer: Without or absence of. Anaemia is literally ‘without blood’ (really, too little haemoglobin); apnoea means no breathing.
Question 10 of 10
Which prefix means half?
- uni-
- bi-
- hemi-
- hyper-
Show answer
Answer: hemi-. Hemiplegia is paralysis of one half of the body. Semi- means half too (semilunar valves); bi- means two and uni- one.
Round 2: Suffixes
Question 1 of 10
What does the suffix -itis mean?
- Inflammation
- Infection only
- Tumour
- Disease
Show answer
Answer: Inflammation. Appendicitis, arthritis, tonsillitis. Inflammation can have many causes, not just infection.
Question 2 of 10
What does -ectomy mean?
- Making an opening
- Cutting into
- Surgical repair
- Surgical removal
Show answer
Answer: Surgical removal. Appendicectomy (appendectomy in the US) removes the appendix; mastectomy removes a breast.
Question 3 of 10
What does -otomy mean?
- Viewing
- Removal
- Cutting into (incision)
- Permanent opening
Show answer
Answer: Cutting into (incision). A laparotomy is cutting into the abdomen; a tracheotomy is an incision into the trachea.
Question 4 of 10
What does -ostomy mean?
- Stitching
- A surgically made opening
- Cutting out
- Crushing
Show answer
Answer: A surgically made opening. A colostomy brings the colon out through an opening in the abdominal wall. Add ‘-ectomy’ and ‘-otomy’ and you have the surgical trio.
Question 5 of 10
Which suffix means pain?
- -algia
- -trophy
- -pathy
- -plegia
Show answer
Answer: -algia. Neuralgia is nerve pain; myalgia is muscle pain. -dynia also means pain, as in coccydynia.
Question 6 of 10
What does -megaly mean?
- Hardening
- Enlargement
- Softening
- Shrinking
Show answer
Answer: Enlargement. Splenomegaly is an enlarged spleen; cardiomegaly is an enlarged heart.
Question 7 of 10
What does -penia mean?
- Excess
- Swelling
- Destruction
- Deficiency or lack
Show answer
Answer: Deficiency or lack. Neutropenia is too few neutrophils; osteopenia is lower than normal bone density.
Question 8 of 10
What does -plasty mean?
- Formation of a tumour
- Paralysis
- Surgical repair or reshaping
- Removal
Show answer
Answer: Surgical repair or reshaping. Rhinoplasty reshapes the nose; angioplasty widens a narrowed blood vessel.
Question 9 of 10
What does -scopy mean?
- Measuring
- Recording a trace
- Cutting into
- Looking inside with an instrument
Show answer
Answer: Looking inside with an instrument. Colonoscopy, arthroscopy, bronchoscopy. -graphy means recording, as in electrocardiography.
Question 10 of 10
What does -aemia (US: -emia) mean?
- A condition of the blood
- Vomiting
- Swelling
- Flow or discharge
Show answer
Answer: A condition of the blood. Hyperkalaemia is high blood potassium; septicaemia is infection in the blood.
Round 3: Word roots
Question 1 of 10
Which organ does the root hepat/o refer to?
- Liver
- Kidney
- Spleen
- Heart
Show answer
Answer: Liver. Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver; hepatomegaly is an enlarged liver.
Question 2 of 10
Which organ does nephr/o refer to?
- Bladder
- Kidney
- Nerve
- Lung
Show answer
Answer: Kidney. Nephritis is kidney inflammation. Ren/o (as in renal) also means kidney, from Latin.
Question 3 of 10
Which root means heart?
- carcin/o
- cost/o
- cephal/o
- cardi/o
Show answer
Answer: cardi/o. Cardiology, cardiomyopathy. Cephal/o means head; carcin/o means cancer; cost/o means rib.
Question 4 of 10
What does oste/o mean?
- Ear
- Muscle
- Bone
- Joint
Show answer
Answer: Bone. Osteoporosis is porous bone. Arthr/o is joint, my/o is muscle and ot/o is ear.
Question 5 of 10
What does dermat/o (or derm/o) mean?
- Hair
- Fat
- Skin
- Tooth
Show answer
Answer: Skin. Dermatitis is skin inflammation. Dent/o is tooth, lip/o is fat, trich/o is hair.
Question 6 of 10
What does gastr/o mean?
- Stomach
- Gut in general
- Oesophagus
- Gallbladder
Show answer
Answer: Stomach. Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining. Enter/o is the intestine.
Question 7 of 10
What does haem/o (US: hem/o) mean?
- Half
- Water
- Liver
- Blood
Show answer
Answer: Blood. Haematology, haemorrhage. Hem- with no ‘a’ is the US spelling; hemi- means half.
Question 8 of 10
What does encephal/o mean?
- Head
- Brain
- Nerve
- Spinal cord
Show answer
Answer: Brain. Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. Neur/o is nerve; myel/o can mean spinal cord or bone marrow.
Question 9 of 10
What is a cholecystectomy?
- Removal of the gallbladder
- Inflammation of the gallbladder
- Removal of the bladder
- Cutting into the bile duct
Show answer
Answer: Removal of the gallbladder. Chole (bile) + cyst (sac or bladder) + ectomy (removal). Inflammation would be cholecystitis.
Question 10 of 10
What does pneum/o (or pneumon/o) mean?
- Nose
- Throat
- Lung or air
- Kidney
Show answer
Answer: Lung or air. Pneumonia is lung infection; a pneumothorax is air in the chest outside the lung. Pulmon/o also means lung.
Common medical prefixes and suffixes
A quick cheat sheet. Spellings are Australian and British; the US often drops the ‘a’ or ‘o’ (anaemia → anemia, dyspnoea → dyspnea).
Common medical prefixes
- a-, an-: without, absence of (apnoea, anaemia)
- anti-: against (antibiotic)
- brady-: slow (bradycardia)
- tachy-: fast (tachycardia)
- dys-: difficult, painful, abnormal (dyspnoea)
- endo-: within (endoscopy)
- epi-: upon, above (epidermis)
- hemi-: half (hemiplegia)
- hyper-: above, excessive (hypertension)
- hypo-: below, deficient (hypoglycaemia)
- inter-: between (intercostal)
- intra-: within (intravenous)
- micro-: small (microcytic)
- macro-: large (macrocytic)
- neo-: new (neonate)
- para-: beside, abnormal (paramedian, paraesthesia)
- peri-: around (pericardium)
- poly-: many (polyuria)
- post-: after (postoperative)
- pre-: before (premenstrual)
- sub-: under (subcutaneous)
- trans-: across, through (transdermal)
Common medical suffixes
- -aemia: blood condition (hyperkalaemia)
- -algia: pain (myalgia)
- -centesis: puncture to remove fluid (amniocentesis)
- -ectomy: surgical removal (appendicectomy)
- -gram: the record or image (angiogram)
- -graphy: the process of recording (mammography)
- -itis: inflammation (tonsillitis)
- -logy: study of (cardiology)
- -lysis: breaking down (haemolysis)
- -megaly: enlargement (splenomegaly)
- -oma: tumour or swelling (lipoma)
- -osis: abnormal condition (fibrosis)
- -ostomy: surgically made opening (colostomy)
- -otomy: cutting into (laparotomy)
- -pathy: disease (neuropathy)
- -penia: deficiency (neutropenia)
- -plasty: surgical repair (rhinoplasty)
- -plegia: paralysis (paraplegia)
- -pnoea: breathing (dyspnoea)
- -rrhoea: flow, discharge (diarrhoea)
- -scopy: looking inside (colonoscopy)
- -uria: urine condition (haematuria)
Common word roots
- arthr/o: joint
- cardi/o: heart
- cephal/o: head
- chole: bile
- cyst/o: bladder, sac
- derm/o, dermat/o: skin
- encephal/o: brain
- enter/o: intestine
- gastr/o: stomach
- haem/o, haemat/o: blood
- hepat/o: liver
- my/o: muscle
- nephr/o, ren/o: kidney
- neur/o: nerve
- oste/o: bone
- ot/o: ear
- ophthalm/o: eye
- pneum/o, pulmon/o: lung, air
- rhin/o: nose
- vas/o, angi/o: vessel
Like word games? Try Morphemia, our daily medical word puzzle, or Wordemic, the medical Wordle.
Common questions
What is the fastest way to learn medical terminology?
Learn the building blocks rather than whole words. About 100 common prefixes, suffixes and roots unlock thousands of terms: hepat (liver) + itis (inflammation) = hepatitis. Break every new word into parts, and quiz yourself little and often.
What is the difference between a prefix, a suffix and a root?
The root carries the core meaning, usually a body part (cardi = heart). A prefix goes in front and changes the meaning (tachy = fast), and a suffix goes on the end, often naming a condition or procedure (-ectomy = removal). Tachycardia = fast + heart + condition.
Why do some medical words have two spellings?
British, Australian and most Commonwealth English keep the Greek-derived ‘ae’ and ‘oe’: haemoglobin, anaemia, oesophagus, diarrhoea. American English simplifies them: hemoglobin, anemia, esophagus, diarrhea. Both are correct in their own countries.
What are combining vowels?
Usually an ‘o’ that links a root to another part to make a word easier to say: gastr + o + scopy = gastroscopy. It’s generally dropped before a suffix starting with a vowel: gastr + itis = gastritis.