Chapter 23: Some Medical Terminology
§139. Standard Medical Suffixes (all Greek)
The following will often be attached by the combining vowel -o-, as in rhin-o-plasty.
| -ist | –istēs (–ἰστης) | (creates agent noun; L -ista) |
| –itis | inflamed condition | |
| –ōsis | abnormal condition | |
| –ōma | morbid affection (a growth, L tumor) | |
| -iasis | disease, abnormal condition | |
| -tomy | –tomia | cutting; cf. L incision– (caedere, caesus) |
| -ectomy | –ektomia | cutting out; cf. L excision- |
| -stomy | stom(at)– | mouth, opening; cf. L. or-i-ficium > E orifice |
| -plasty | plass-/plast– | shaping, moulding |
| -rrh(o)ea | rhe– (–rhoia) | flow, discharge (e.g., διαῤῥοια) |
| -rrhagia | rhag–/rheg– | rapid discharge |
| -rrhexis | rhag–/rheg– | bursting; cf. L ruptura (rupture) |
| -rrhaphy | rhapt–/rhaph–[1] | stitching; cf. L sutura (suture) |
- This is the root that appears in rhapsode (an ancient Greek “song-stitcher”) and rhapsody. ↵
