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Dictionary

Word parts

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

opt/oA word part that means eye or vision.
or/oA word part that means mouth.
orch/oA word root that means testis; orchi/o, orchid/o and test/o mean the same.
ortho-A word beginning that means straight, upright or correct.
oste/oA word root that means bone.
ox/oA word root that means oxygen.
palat/oA word root that means the palate, the roof of the mouth.
pan-A word beginning that means all or every.
pancreat/oA word root that means pancreas.
par/oA word root that means to bear or give birth; part/o means labor or birth.
para-A word beginning that means beside, near, beyond or abnormal.
path/oA word root that means disease or suffering.
ped/oA word root that means child; in some words a look-alike root means foot.
pelv/iA word part that means the pelvis, the ring of bones at the base of the spine.
per-A word beginning that means through or throughout.
peri-A word beginning that means around or near.
perine/oA word root that means the perineum, the area between the genitals and the anus.
peritone/oA word root that means the peritoneum, the thin lining of the abdominal cavity.
petr/oA word root that means stone.
phag/oA word root that means eating or swallowing.
phalang/oA word part that means the phalanges, the bones of the fingers and toes.
pharyng/oA word part that means the pharynx, the throat.
phleb/oA word root that means vein; ven/o means the same.
phot/oA word root that means light.
phren/oA word root that means the diaphragm, the main breathing muscle; it can also mean the mind.
phys/oA word root that means growing.
pil/oA word root that means hair.
plasm/oA word root that means plasma, the liquid part of blood, or formed material.
pleur/oA word root that means the pleura, the thin two-layer covering of the lungs, or the side of the chest.
pneum/oA word root that means air or lung; pneumon/o and pulmon/o also mean lung.
pod/oA word root that means foot.
poly-A word beginning that means many or much.
post-A word beginning that means after or behind.
pre-A word beginning that means before or in front of.
primi-A word beginning that means first.
pro-A word beginning that means before, forward or in front of.
proct/oA word root that means anus and rectum; rect/o means rectum.
prostat/oA word root that means the prostate, the gland below the bladder in men.
pseudo-A word beginning that means false or fake: something that looks like another thing but is not.
psych/oA word root that means mind.
py/oA word part that means pus.
pyel/oA word part that means the renal pelvis, the funnel-shaped space in the kidney where urine collects.
pylor/oA word root that means the pylorus, the muscular opening from the stomach into the small intestine.
quadri-A word beginning that means four.
rachi/oA word root that means the spine, the vertebral column.
radi/oA word part that means radiation or x-rays; it can also mean the radius, a bone of the forearm.
re-A word beginning that means again or back.
retro-A word beginning that means backward or behind.
rhiz/oA word root that means nerve root, where a nerve leaves the spinal cord.
sacr/oA word root that means the sacrum, the triangle-shaped bone at the base of the spine.