Greek And Latin Roots – Constructing Biological And Medical Terminology

greek and latin roots

The roots are words from which the prefixes and suffixes used in constructing biological terminology are frequently derived. Often, multiple prefixes and suffixes are based on a single root. In general, the components used in constructing scientific terminology and med terms are either of Latin or Greek derivation. In building these terms, scientists have traditionally avoided hybrid terms combining Greek And Latin Roots, word parts derived from Latin roots with other parts derived from Greek roots (although this rule has not been as strictly followed in recent years).

Stems, Prefixes, and Affixes

If you recognize the parts, you’ll understand the whole: learn the Greek and Latin roots, the prefixes and affixes.

How knowing the etymology of rhinoceros will help you understand your doctor’s diagnoses:

The Greek word for nose is rhis, and the combining form (the form that is used when it is combined with other word elements) is rhin-. The Greek word for horn is keras. So this animal was named a “nose-horn animal” or a ‘rhinoceros.’”

Root + Suffix=Word

The suffix on please is an e. As John Hough, in Scientific Terminology, points out, roots rarely exist alone. They usually precede suffixes. The same is true of Greek and Latin roots, even if, when borrowing, we sometimes drop the suffix. Thus, the word cell in English is really the Latin cella, from which we’ve dropped the a suffix.

Not only do almost all English words contain roots plus suffixes, but, according to Hough, suffixes can’t stand alone. Suffix – Definition:

A suffix is an inseparable form that cannot be used alone but that carries an indication of quality, action, or relation. When added to a combining form, it makes a complete word and will determine whether the word is a noun, adjective, verb, or adverb.

Compound Words

A suffix combined with a root is different from a compound word which, in loose English usage, is usually thought of as just another case of root + suffix. Sometimes two Greek or Latin roots are put together to form a compound word.

End Forms

Some common Greek “end forms”, an example is the wordneurology (study of the nervous system) which comes from the Greek neuro- the combining form of the noun neuron (nerve) plus -logy. We think of these end forms as merely suffixes, but they are fully productive words.

Root + Suffix/Prefix=Word

Prefixes are usually adverbs or prepositions derived from Greek or Latin roots that can’t be used alone in English and appear at the beginnings of words. While suffixes are often joined to the the end of roots by separate connecting vowels, the transformation of these prepositional and adverbial prefixes is more direct, even though the final letter of the prefix may be changed or eliminated. In 2-letter prefixes, this can be confusing. Note: Greek forms are capitalized, Latin in normal case.

Adjective + Root + Suffix=Word

Greek and Latin adjectives used to combine with English words or with other Latin or Greek parts to make English words — like megalomaniac or macroeconomics.

Colors

A medical example of a Greek-based color word is erythrokinetics (e·ryth·ro·ki·net·ics), which Your Dictionary Medical Definitions defines as “A study of the kinetics of red blood cells from their generation to destruction.”

Numerals

Note that the milli- is Latin and the kilo- is Greek; the Latin is the smaller unit, and the Greek the larger, so millimeter is a 1000th part of a meter (.0363 of an inch) and the kilometer is 1000 meters (39370 inches).

Greek and Latin roots are difficult to master if you focus solely on wrote memorization.

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