Dictionary

Word parts

Prefixes, suffixes and roots: learn one and every word built from it becomes readable.

isch/oA word root that means to hold back or keep back.

iso-A word beginning that means equal or the same.

jejun/oA word root that means the jejunum, the middle section of the small intestine.

kal/iA word root that means potassium, from its Latin name kalium.

kerat/oA word root that means horny tissue (keratin, as in skin and nails) or the cornea of the eye.

ket/oA word part that means ketones, acids the body makes when it burns fat for fuel.

kinesi/oA word root that means movement.

kyph/oA word part that means a hump or a forward curve.

lact/oA word part that means milk.

lapar/oA word root that means abdomen or abdominal wall.

laryng/oA word part that means the larynx, the voice box.

lei/oA word root that means smooth.

leuk/oA word part that means white.

lith/oA word root that means stone.

lob/oA word part that means lobe, a rounded section of an organ.

lord/oA word root that means curved or bent forward.

lumb/oA word part that means the lower back, between the ribs and the hips.

lymph/oA word root that means lymph, the clear fluid of the lymphatic system.

macro-A word beginning that means large.

mal-A word beginning that means bad, poor or abnormal.

mamm/oA word root that means breast; mast/o means the same.

megal/oA word part that means large or enlarged.

melan/oA word root that means black or dark.

men/oA word part that means menstruation or month.

mening/oA word part that means the meninges, the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal cord.

ment/oA word root that means the mind; in anatomy words it can also mean the chin.

meta-A word beginning that means change, after or beyond.

micro-A word beginning that means very small; in units, one millionth.

mono-A word beginning that means one or single.

muc/oA word root that means mucus or mucous membrane.

multi-A word beginning that means many or more than one.

my/oA word root that means muscle.

myc/oA word root that means fungus.

myel/oA word root that means spinal cord or bone marrow.

myring/oA word root that means the eardrum (tympanic membrane).

nas/oA word part that means nose.

nat/oA word root that means birth.

natr/oA word root that means sodium.

necr/oA word root that means death, or dead tissue.

neo-A word beginning that means new.

nephr/oA word root that means kidney.

neur/oA word root that means nerve or the nervous system.

neutr/oA word root that means neutral, neither acid nor base.

noct/iA word part that means night.

nulli-A word beginning that means none.

ocul/oA word root that means eye; ophthalm/o means eye too.

olig/oA word root that means few, little or less than normal.

onc/oA word part that means tumor or mass.

onych/oA word root that means nail (of a finger or toe).

oophor/oA word part that means ovary.