Suffixes -osis, -iasis, -itis, -oma, -ismus. Portmanteau and abbreviated words
5 topics with brief reviews: definitions, key facts, and class questions.
Welcome to the fundamentals of clinical terminology! In this section, we learn how to decode and construct medical diagnoses. You will learn how suffixes like -itis (inflammation), -oma (tumor), and -osis (pathological process) turn neutral anatomical names into specific diseases.
We will break down the mechanisms of word-building and learn how to juggle free and bound compounding elements. Special attention will be paid to Greco-Latin doublets: we will figure out why we learn ren (kidney) in anatomy, while a clinical diagnosis sounds like nephritis. To prevent you from getting confused by roots, the section provides a handy summary table of anatomical correspondences for compounding elements.
During practical classes, instructors most frequently ask about the subtle difference between the suffixes -osis and -iasis, ask you to "assemble" a compound-abbreviated word from scratch, or translate a multi-root diagnosis. This material will help you solve such tasks intuitively by understanding the language's logic rather than relying on blind memorization.
To which declension do terms ending in -oma, such as glaucoma and eczema, belong?
Words of Greek origin ending in -oma (e.g., glaucoma, eczema, coma, oedema) belong to the third declension of nouns.
What is a hybrid term in Latin?
This is a compound word formed from the stems of different languages. Most often, one component of the term is taken from Latin, and the other from Greek (e.g., the term neocortex).
What does the root blastus mean in histology?
It comes from the Greek word meaning sprout or germ. In terms, it always indicates an immature precursor cell (e.g., osteoblastus or fibroblastus).
Why are terms in radiology often built from Latin roots?
In radiology, an organ is studied as an anatomical unit, often healthy. Therefore, preference is given to Latin roots (e.g., mammography), whereas pathological conditions are described using Greek roots (mastopathy).
Can the Greek root be used as an independent organ name?
In Russian, Greek combining forms are almost never used as independent names of organs. Familiar Russian equivalents exist for this, while Greek morphemes are needed to form names of diseases and research methods.
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