Prefixes

Prefixes are located at the beginning of a medical term. The prefix alters the meaning of the medical term. It is important to spell and pronounce prefixes correctly.

Many prefixes that you find in medical terms are common English-language prefixes. A good technique to help with memorization is the following:

Start by reviewing the most common prefixes.
Consider common English-language words that begin with the same prefixes.
Compare them to the examples of use in medical terms.

We will be seeing these prefixes mentioned again in this book, but they are presented here as a reference.

PREFIX	MEANING	EXAMPLE OF USE IN MEDICAL TERMS
a-, an	no, not, without, negates the meaning	atypical, anoxia
ab-	away from; from	abduction
ad-	toward, at, increase, on, toward	adduction
ante-	before	antepartum
anti-	against, opposing	antipsychotic
bi-, bin-	two, twice, double	bilateral, binocular
brady-	slow	bradycardia
de-	from, down, away from	dehydrate
dia-	through, complete	dialysis
dys-	painful, abnormal, difficult, labored	dysphagia
endo-	within, in	endotracheal
epi-	on, upon, over	epidermis
eu-	normal, good	eupnea
hemi-	half	hemicolectomy
hyper-	above, excessive	hyperthyroidism
inter-	between	intercostal
intra-	within, in	intramuscular
macro-	large, long	macrocephalus
meta-	after, beyond, change	metacarpals
micro-	small	microscope
multi-	many	multipara
neo-	new	neonate
nulli-	none	nulligravida
pachy-	thick, thickening, thickened	pachyderma
pan-	all, total	pancytopenia
para-	beside, beyond, around, abnormal	parathyroid glands
per-	through	percutaneous
peri-	surrounding (outer)	peripheral vision
poly-	many, much	polymyositis
post-	after	postpartum
pre-	before	prenatal
pro-	before	prognosis
sub-	below, under	subcutaneous
supra-	above	suprascapular
sym-, syn-	together, joined	symphysis
tachy-	fast, rapid	tachycardia
trans-	through, across, beyond	transdermal
tri-	three	triceps
uni-	one	unilateral

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Medical Terminology: An Interactive Approach Copyright © 2022 by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.