Medical Terminology Study Hub

Study and safety note: This hub teaches language. It does not diagnose conditions or provide patient-specific medical advice. In clinical work, follow current organizational policy, qualified instruction, and the complete source record.

Medical terminology: 167 terms defined

Every term from the flashcards above, written out and grouped by category, so you can revise without clicking through the cards, search the page for a term, or print the set.

Anatomy & Position

Abduction

Movement away from the body’s midline.

Adduction

Movement toward the body’s midline.

Afferent

Carrying toward a reference structure, such as a sensory signal toward the central nervous system.

Contralateral

On the opposite side from the reference structure.

Deep

Farther from the body surface.

Extension

Movement that usually increases the angle at a joint.

Flexion

Movement that usually decreases the angle at a joint.

Inferior

Below or toward the feet relative to a named structure.

Lateral

Away from the midline.

Prone

Lying face down.

Superficial

Nearer the body surface.

Superior

Above or toward the head relative to a named structure.

Supine

Lying face up.

Clinical Language

Abbreviation

A shortened written form. Its meaning depends on the record, specialty, organization, and surrounding context.

Acute

Beginning recently, changing rapidly, or lasting a relatively short time; the label describes timing and course, not severity.

Adverse effect

An unwanted or harmful effect associated with an intervention; an event after exposure is an association, while causation requires the clinical record and appropriate evaluation.

Anatomical position

The standard reference posture used to describe body locations and relationships.

Anterior

Toward the front of the body or a named structure.

Assessment

A clinician’s interpretation or working judgment based on available information; its certainty must be preserved exactly.

Benign

Not malignant; the term does not mean harmless in every location or circumstance.

Bilateral

Affecting, involving, or located on both sides.

Biopsy

Removal or collection of cells or tissue for examination. The procedure state and the pathology result are separate facts.

Chronic

Persisting or recurring over a longer interval; the word does not by itself state cause, severity, or permanence.

Clinical meaning

The accepted professional use of a complete term in context; it can be narrower or different from a purely literal word-part build.

Colonization

Presence and growth of microorganisms without the term alone establishing tissue invasion, symptoms, or infection.

Combining form

A root shown with a combining vowel, commonly written with a slash, as in cardi/o.

Combining vowel

A vowel, often o, used to connect word parts; it usually does not add meaning of its own.

Comorbidity

A condition present along with another condition. The label alone does not establish causation or a complication relationship.

Contraindication

A circumstance that weighs against using a drug, procedure, or treatment; its force and scope depend on the named intervention and current guidance.

Diagnosis

A condition identified through an appropriate clinical process. A symptom, test order, or isolated finding is not automatically a diagnosis.

Differential diagnosis

A reasoned set of possible explanations being considered; it is not a list of confirmed diagnoses.

Distal

Farther from a point of attachment or origin.

Dose

A stated quantity of a medication or other agent. Strength, dosage form, route, frequency, and duration are separate fields.

Dysfunction

Impaired or altered function; the term does not specify the cause or exact diagnosis unless the context does.

Edema

Swelling associated with excess fluid in tissues; the word alone does not identify the cause.

Efferent

Carrying away from a reference structure, such as a signal traveling away from the central nervous system.

Encounter

A defined interaction or episode of care used in clinical and administrative records; the services completed belong in their own entries.

Eponym

A term derived from a person’s name. Its accepted meaning usually cannot be decoded completely from reusable word parts.

Etiology

The cause or origin of a condition. A suspected cause must not be restated as confirmed.

Finding

An observed, measured, reported, or interpreted piece of information. The source and evidence state determine what it supports.

Frontal plane

A plane dividing the body into anterior and posterior portions.

Grade

A classification describing features such as how abnormal tumor cells appear; grade is not the same as stage.

History

Information about past or current health supplied by a patient, caregiver, record, or other identified source.

Homeostasis

Regulation that keeps internal conditions within workable ranges despite change.

Hyper-

A prefix commonly indicating above, excessive, or increased; the exact threshold must come from the complete term and context.

Hypo-

A prefix commonly indicating below, deficient, or decreased; the exact threshold must come from the complete term and context.

Imaging

Creation of visual information about internal structures or processes. An order, completed acquisition, report, and interpretation are different workflow states.

Indication

The stated reason an intervention may be considered or used; it does not guarantee that it was ordered, given, effective, or safe for every person.

Infection

Invasion and multiplication of an infectious agent in a host; infection can be clinical or subclinical and is not synonymous with inflammation or colonization.

Inflammation

A tissue response that can involve redness, heat, swelling, pain, or altered function; it is not automatically caused by infection.

Interaction

A change associated with two or more drugs, foods, conditions, tests, or other factors acting in relation to one another.

Ipsilateral

On the same side of the body as the reference structure.

Laboratory reference interval

A comparison range supplied by a laboratory for a named test, method, unit, and population; it is not a universal diagnostic cutoff.

Laterality

The side involved, such as right, left, or bilateral.

Lesion

An area of abnormal or altered tissue; the word alone does not identify cause, behavior, or malignancy.

Literal meaning

A provisional meaning formed by combining the usual meanings of a term’s parts. Accepted usage and context must confirm it.

Malignant

Cancerous, with the capacity for invasive growth and potential spread; exact behavior still depends on the named disease and record.

Medial

Toward the midline of the body or a named structure.

Metastasis

Spread of malignant cells from a primary site to another site; a suspected lesion is not automatically a metastasis.

Objective information

Information observed, measured, or otherwise documented independently of a person’s report; interpretation remains a separate step.

Order

A documented instruction or request. It does not establish performance, result, response, or completion.

Pathology

The study of disease and, in records, often the examination of cells or tissue. Specimen collection, report availability, and diagnosis are separate states.

Plain language

Clear wording designed for the intended reader without discarding clinically important meaning, uncertainty, numbers, or next steps.

Posterior

Toward the back of the body or a named structure.

Prefix

A word part placed before a root or combining form to modify meaning.

Primary diagnosis

A diagnosis assigned a leading role under a named clinical or administrative convention; the exact rule depends on context.

Procedure

A defined examination, test, treatment, or intervention. Scheduled, attempted, completed, and resulted are not interchangeable states.

Prognosis

An evidence-based expectation about the likely course or outcome of a condition; it is distinct from diagnosis.

Proximal

Nearer to a point of attachment or origin.

Qualified interpreter

A person who meets applicable competence and role requirements for language assistance; mere bilingual ability does not establish qualification.

Recurrence

Return of a disease or condition after a period in which it had improved, resolved, or was not detectable under the stated convention.

Remission

Reduction or disappearance of signs and symptoms under the named clinical convention; remission is not automatically a cure.

Result

The output of a completed test, examination, or procedure. Interpretation, diagnosis, communication, and action can require separate documentation.

Root

The central word part that carries a core meaning, often naming a structure or process.

Route

The path by which a medication or other agent is administered, such as oral, intravenous, or topical.

Sagittal plane

A plane dividing the body into right and left portions; a midsagittal plane divides them equally.

Screening

Testing or questioning used to identify possible risk or a need for further evaluation; a screening result is not automatically a diagnosis.

Sequela

A residual effect or condition that follows an earlier injury or disease; its use depends on the documented relationship.

Sign

An observable or measurable indication; it is distinct from a symptom reported by a person.

Specificity

The level of supported detail in a term or record, such as site, laterality, timing, type, or relationship.

Stage

A classification commonly describing the extent of a disease; its criteria are disease- and system-specific, and stage is not grade.

Subjective information

Information reported by a patient or another identified source, including symptoms and experiences.

Suffix

A word part placed at the end of a term that often identifies the term’s main condition, procedure, specialty, or grammatical role.

Symptom

An experience or change reported by a person; it is not automatically observable or diagnostic.

Syndrome

A recognized group or pattern of findings; the name alone does not establish cause, severity, or every component in one person.

Teach-back

A communication check in which a person explains the information or plan in their own words so the explanation can be clarified if needed; it is not a test of the person’s intelligence.

Therapeutic effect

The intended or beneficial effect of an intervention. Administration alone does not prove that effect occurred.

Transverse plane

A plane dividing the body into superior and inferior portions.

Treatment

An intervention intended to manage a condition, symptom, risk, or functional problem. An order or plan does not prove delivery or response.

Unilateral

Affecting, involving, or located on one side.

Word-part hypothesis

The tentative meaning produced by decoding a term; complete-term usage and clinical context decide whether it is correct.

Workflow state

A documented point in a process, such as requested, scheduled, collected, performed, resulted, interpreted, communicated, or completed.

Procedures & Records

Administered

Given to the patient. It does not prove the intended effect occurred.

Auscultation

Listening to internal body sounds, commonly with a stethoscope.

Culture

A laboratory method used to grow and help identify microorganisms; a pending culture has no final result yet.

History of

Documents a past condition or event. It does not automatically mean the condition is active now.

IM

Intramuscular, meaning into a muscle.

IV

Intravenous, meaning into or within a vein.

NPO

Nothing by mouth. Follow the specific clinical order and timeframe.

Palpation

Examination by touch.

Pathology pending

The specimen may have been collected, but the final tissue interpretation is not available.

Pending

Not yet final or available. Do not supply the missing result.

Percussion

Tapping the body surface to assess underlying structures.

PO

By mouth or orally in a medication route context.

PRN

As needed. The indication and limits must come from the full order.

Rule out

A condition being evaluated as a possibility. It is not a confirmed diagnosis.

Scheduled

Planned for a future time. It does not prove the action occurred.

Specimen

A sample collected for examination or testing.

Subcutaneous

Under the skin.

Topical

Applied to a body surface.

Roots & Systems

bronch/o

bronchus or airway

cervic/o

neck or cervix, depending on context

cholecyst/o

gallbladder

cyst/o

bladder or sac

enter/o

intestine, usually the small intestine

glyc/o

sugar or glucose

gynec/o

woman or female

immun/o

immune or protection

myel/o

spinal cord or bone marrow, depending on context

pneum/o, pneumon/o

lung or air

proct/o

rectum and anus

vas/o

vessel or vas deferens, depending on context

Word Parts

-cytosis

increase in the number of cells

-ectomy

surgical removal

-emia

blood condition

-genic

producing, produced by, or produced in

-gram

record, image, or tracing

-graph

instrument that records

-graphy

process of recording or imaging

-iasis

abnormal condition or presence of

-itis

inflammation

-logy

study or field

-lysis

breakdown, destruction, or separation

-malacia

abnormal softening

-megaly

enlargement

-oma

tumor or mass

-osis

abnormal condition

-ostomy

surgical creation of an opening

-otomy

incision into

-ous

pertaining to

-pathy

disease or disorder

-penia

deficiency or decrease

-pexy

surgical fixation

-phagia

eating or swallowing

-plasty

surgical repair

-rrhage, -rrhagia

bursting forth or excessive flow, often bleeding

-rrhea

flow or discharge

-sclerosis

abnormal hardening

-scopy

process of visual examination

-uria

urine condition

a-, an-

without, not, or lacking

ante-

before or in front of

contra-

against or opposite

de-

down, away from, or removal

dia-

through or complete

dys-

bad, painful, difficult, or abnormal

endo-

within or inner

epi-

upon, on, or above

eu-

good or normal

ex-, exo-

out or outside

oligo-

few or scanty

para-

beside, near, or abnormal

poly-

many or much

post-

after or behind

retro-

behind or backward

sub-

under or below

trans-

across or through