1.1 Introduction to Basic Word Structure
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to
- Define the component parts of medical terms
- Identify combining forms in medical terms
- Identify prefixes and their meaning
- Identify suffixes and their meaning
- Apply an understanding of component parts and define medical terms
Chapter Overview
Veterinary medical terms may appear to be very complex; however, most medical terms can be understood through a process of breaking them down into their component parts. Being able to identify the component parts, understand their meaning, and bring the terms together will demystify medical language and make it much easier to understand. Veterinary medical terms are used in the clinical setting on a daily basis and are essential to understand when communicating with other veterinary team members. After you have interpreted the meaning of the terms, you can then explain them to your clients so they can also understand what is going on with their animal.
This chapter will introduce you to common medical terms used in veterinary medicine. We will begin with the basic component parts of medical terms, language rules, combining forms, prefixes, and suffixes. Then we will bring it all together with some review activities at the end of the chapter.
Attribution
Unless otherwise indicated, material on this page has been adapted from the following resources:
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
