"

2.4 Suffixes

A suffix is a word part that is located at the end of a word. It can alter the meaning of a medical term, and it is important to spell and pronounce suffixes correctly. When writing a suffix, if it is not in a medical term, you must place a “-” before the suffix.

Suffixes are not always explicitly stated in the definition of a word, and it is common that suffixes are not explicitly stated when defining a medical term in all medical settings. However, when reading a medical report, the suffix is always clearly written. In order to properly spell and pronounce medical terms, it is helpful to learn the suffixes.

Table 2.4. Suffixes  
SUFFIXES MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS
-ac, -al, -ary, -eal, -ic, -ous pertaining to cardiac, renal, esophageal, pulmonary, cancerous
-algia condition of pain arthralgia
-cide kill germicide
-cise cut excise
-cision process of cutting incision
-ectasis dilation bronchiectasis
-ectomy removal, excision, cutting out appendectomy
-emia blood hyperglycemia
-genic origin osteogenic
-gen producing antigen
-ia condition pneumonia
-iasis disease nephrolithiasis 
-itis inflammation appendicitis
-iod growth fibroid
Surgeons putting an incision into the patients abdomen
Figure 2.4

Key Concept

Incisions are done for many reasons, and Figure 2.4 shows a surgeon making an abdominal incision. The surgeon could possibly be doing an exploratory laparotomy or some form of resection. Incision has the suffix -cision, which means “process of cutting.”

Table 2.5. Suffixes  
SUFFIXES MEANING EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS
-megaly enlargement cardiomegaly
-necrosis death of tissue arterionecrosis
-ology study of bacteriology
-oscopy visual examination laparoscopy
-ostomy surgically create an opening colostomy
-otomy incision into an organ gastrotomy
-oma tumour carcinoma
-pathy disease cardiomyopathy
-penia decrease cytopenia
-pexy surgical fixation orchiopexy
-plasty surgical repair rhinoplasty
-rrhea flow, discharge rhinorrhea
-rrhage excessive discharge hemorrhage
-rrhaphy to suture myorrhaphy
-sclerosis hardening arteriosclerosis
-stomy opening colostomy
-tome cutting instrument Osteotome
-tripsy surgical crushing extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy

 

normal, dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive types of cardiomyopathy
Figure 2.5

 

 

 

 

example of colostomy bag/colostomy due to cancer
Figure 2.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key Concepts

Figure 2.5 different forms of cardiomyopathy. This condition can be caused by a number of factors, and the term includes the word parts cardio, meaning “heart,” myo, meaning “muscle,” and the suffix -pathy, meaning “disease.”

A colostomy (Figure 2.6) is a common medical procedure done in a hospital and can be performed for a number of reasons, including cancer, obstructions, and trauma. The operation involves creating a stoma, which is an opening, on the abdomen where a colostomy bag can be attached. The term includes the word parts colo, meaning “colon,” and -ostomy, meaning “surgically create an opening.”

 

Attribution

Unless otherwise indicated, material on this page has been adapted from the following resource:

Sturdy, L., & Erickson, S. (2022). The language of medical terminology. Open Education Alberta. https://pressbooks.openeducationalberta.ca/medicalterminology/, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

 

Image Credits

(Images are listed in order of appearance)

Incisión de Piel by Alexperf, CC BY 3.0

Major categories of cardiomyopathy by Npatchett, CC BY-SA 4.0

Colostomy by National Cancer Institute Visuals Online, Public domain

definition

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Introduction to Reprocessing Copyright © 2025 by NorQuest College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book