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CSTSetup
Dictionary · Word part

stern/o

A word part that means the sternum, the breastbone.

STER-noh root

What it means

The root in words about the flat bone in the middle of the chest. A sternotomy is a cut through the breastbone for open-heart surgery, and substernal means beneath the breastbone, as in "substernal chest pain".

At a glance

Also writtensterno-

Related terms

sub-

A word beginning that means under, below or less than.

rib

One of the 12 pairs of curved bones that form the chest wall around the heart and lungs.

Filed under

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