医学词根：24 个希腊与拉丁词根，拆解绝大多数医学术语
Medical terminology is the vocabulary that scares people most — long, unfamiliar words like electroencephalogram or cholecystectomy. But medical terms are the most regular vocabulary in English. Unlike everyday words, they are engineered from a small set of Greek and Latin parts, snapped together like LEGO. Learn the parts, and the terms decode themselves.
This is why a medical student who knows roots doesn't memorize thousands of terms one by one. They memorize a few dozen roots, a handful of prefixes, and a handful of suffixes — then combine them. Below are the 24 highest-yield roots for reading medical language, grouped by what they describe.
How medical terms are built
Almost every medical term follows the same three-part blueprint: a prefix (often marking amount, position, or timing), a root (naming the body part or system), and a suffix (naming the condition, procedure, or study). Not every term has all three, but once you see the pattern, long words break into readable pieces.
Take cardiology. It splits into cardi (heart) + -ology (the study of) — literally "the study of the heart," i.e. the branch of medicine dealing with the heart. Every "-ology" you meet works the same way: neurology is the study of nerves, dermatology the study of skin.
Now a three-part one: hypertension. It splits into hyper (excessive) + tens (Latin tendere, to stretch or make tense; here, pressure) + -ion (a state or condition) — "a state of excessive pressure," which is exactly what high blood pressure is. Flip the prefix to hypo (under) and you get hypotension, low blood pressure.
Body & organ roots
These roots name the body part. They are the anchor of most terms — attach a suffix for a disease or procedure, a prefix for degree or position.
cardi — heart（心）
- cardiology (cardi + -ology) — the study of the heart（心脏病学）
- cardiac (cardi + -ac) — relating to the heart（心脏的）
- tachycardia (tachy + cardi) — an abnormally fast heartbeat（心动过速）
- myocardium (myo + cardi) — the heart muscle（心肌）
derm / dermat — skin（皮肤）
- dermatology (dermat + -ology) — the study of the skin（皮肤病学）
- dermatitis (dermat + -itis) — inflammation of the skin（皮炎）
- epidermis (epi + derm) — the outer layer upon the skin（表皮）
- hypodermic (hypo + derm) — under the skin, as of an injection（皮下的）
hepat — liver（肝）
- hepatitis (hepat + -itis) — inflammation of the liver（肝炎）
- hepatic (hepat + -ic) — relating to the liver（肝的）
- hepatomegaly (hepat + megaly) — enlargement of the liver（肝肿大）
- hepatology (hepat + -ology) — the study of the liver（肝病学）
nephr — kidney（肾）
- nephritis (nephr + -itis) — inflammation of the kidney（肾炎）
- nephrology (nephr + -ology) — the study of the kidney（肾病学）
- nephron (nephr + -on) — the kidney's functional filtering unit（肾单位）
- nephrectomy (nephr + -ectomy) — surgical removal of a kidney（肾切除术）
neur — nerve（神经）
- neurology (neur + -ology) — the study of the nervous system（神经病学）
- neuron (neur + -on) — a nerve cell（神经元）
- neuralgia (neur + -algia) — nerve pain（神经痛）
- neurosurgery (neur + surgery) — surgery on the nervous system（神经外科）
oste — bone（骨）
- osteoporosis (oste + poros) — bone thinned by porous, weakened tissue（骨质疏松）
- osteoarthritis (oste + arthr + -itis) — joint inflammation with bone degeneration（骨关节炎）
- osteotomy (oste + -otomy) — surgical cutting of a bone（截骨术）
- osteomyelitis (oste + myel + -itis) — inflammation of bone and marrow（骨髓炎）
gastr — stomach（胃）
- gastritis (gastr + -itis) — inflammation of the stomach lining（胃炎）
- gastric (gastr + -ic) — relating to the stomach（胃的）
- gastroenterology (gastr + enter + -ology) — the study of stomach and intestines（胃肠病学）
- gastroscopy (gastr + -scopy) — visual examination of the stomach（胃镜检查）
pneum / pulmon — lung, breath（肺、气息）
- pneumonia (pneumon + -ia) — infection and inflammation of the lungs（肺炎）
- pneumonectomy (pneumon + -ectomy) — surgical removal of a lung（肺切除术）
- pulmonary (pulmon + -ary) — relating to the lungs（肺的）
- cardiopulmonary (cardi + pulmon) — relating to the heart and lungs together（心肺的）
hemat / hem — blood（血）
- hematology (hemat + -ology) — the study of blood（血液学）
- hematoma (hemat + -oma) — a pooled mass of clotted blood（血肿）
- hemorrhage (hem + rrhage) — a burst, rapid flow of blood（出血）
- anemia (an + -emia) — a deficiency of blood / red cells（贫血）
encephal — brain（脑）
- encephalitis (encephal + -itis) — inflammation of the brain（脑炎）
- encephalopathy (encephal + -pathy) — any disease of the brain（脑病）
- electroencephalogram (electro + encephal + -gram) — a record of the brain's electrical activity（脑电图）
- anencephaly (an + encephal) — absence of major brain structures at birth（无脑畸形）
Condition & procedure roots
These suffixes and roots tell you what is happening — inflammation, pain, a disease, or a surgical action. Attach one to a body-part root and you have a diagnosis or procedure.
-itis — inflammation（炎症）
- arthritis (arthr + -itis) — inflammation of the joints（关节炎）
- appendicitis (appendic + -itis) — inflammation of the appendix（阑尾炎）
- bronchitis (bronch + -itis) — inflammation of the bronchial tubes（支气管炎）
- tonsillitis (tonsill + -itis) — inflammation of the tonsils（扁桃体炎）
-ology — study of（……学）
- cardiology (cardi + -ology) — the study of the heart（心脏病学）
- radiology (radi + -ology) — the study of imaging with radiation（放射学）
- oncology (onco + -ology) — the study of tumors and cancer（肿瘤学）
- pathology (path + -ology) — the study of disease（病理学）
-ectomy — surgical removal（切除术）
- appendectomy (append + -ectomy) — surgical removal of the appendix（阑尾切除术）
- tonsillectomy (tonsill + -ectomy) — surgical removal of the tonsils（扁桃体切除术）
- mastectomy (mast + -ectomy) — surgical removal of a breast（乳房切除术）
- hysterectomy (hyster + -ectomy) — surgical removal of the uterus（子宫切除术）
-otomy / -tomy — incision, cutting into（切开术）
- tracheotomy (trache + -otomy) — a surgical incision into the windpipe（气管切开术）
- laparotomy (lapar + -otomy) — a surgical incision into the abdomen（剖腹术）
- craniotomy (crani + -otomy) — a surgical opening of the skull（开颅术）
- phlebotomy (phleb + -otomy) — cutting into a vein to draw blood（静脉切开放血 / 采血）
-pathy — disease（病变）
- neuropathy (neur + -pathy) — disease of the nerves（神经病变）
- cardiomyopathy (cardi + myo + -pathy) — disease of the heart muscle（心肌病）
- retinopathy (retin + -pathy) — disease of the retina（视网膜病变）
- osteopathy (oste + -pathy) — disease of the bones / a related therapy system（骨病 / 整骨疗法）
-algia — pain（疼痛）
- neuralgia (neur + -algia) — nerve pain（神经痛）
- myalgia (myo + -algia) — muscle pain（肌痛）
- arthralgia (arthr + -algia) — joint pain（关节痛）
- fibromyalgia (fibro + myo + -algia) — widespread muscle and connective-tissue pain（纤维肌痛）
-emia — blood condition（血症）
- leukemia (leuk + -emia) — cancer of white blood cells（白血病）
- hyperglycemia (hyper + glyc + -emia) — excess sugar in the blood（高血糖）
- hypoglycemia (hypo + glyc + -emia) — deficient sugar in the blood（低血糖）
- septicemia (septic + -emia) — infection spread through the blood（败血症）
path — disease, suffering（病、苦）
- pathology (path + -ology) — the study of disease（病理学）
- pathogen (path + -gen) — an agent that produces disease（病原体）
- pathogenic (path + gen + -ic) — capable of causing disease（致病的）
- pathogenesis (path + genesis) — the origin and development of a disease（发病机制）
Common prefixes
Prefixes fine-tune a term — usually the amount (too much, too little), the rate (fast, slow), or the presence or absence of something. Swapping one prefix for its opposite flips the whole meaning.
hyper — over, excessive（过度、亢进）
- hypertension (hyper + tens + -ion) — excessively high blood pressure（高血压）
- hyperthyroidism (hyper + thyroid + -ism) — an overactive thyroid gland（甲状腺功能亢进 / 甲亢）
- hyperglycemia (hyper + glyc + -emia) — excessively high blood sugar（高血糖）
- hypertrophy (hyper + trophy) — excessive growth of tissue（肥大）
hypo — under, deficient, below（不足、低下、下方）
- hypotension (hypo + tens + -ion) — abnormally low blood pressure（低血压）
- hypothyroidism (hypo + thyroid + -ism) — an underactive thyroid gland（甲状腺功能减退 / 甲减）
- hypoglycemia (hypo + glyc + -emia) — abnormally low blood sugar（低血糖）
- hypodermic (hypo + derm + -ic) — situated or injected under the skin（皮下的）
brady — slow（缓慢）
- bradycardia (brady + cardi) — an abnormally slow heartbeat（心动过缓）
- bradypnea (brady + pnea) — abnormally slow breathing（呼吸过缓）
tachy — fast, rapid（快速）
- tachycardia (tachy + cardi) — an abnormally fast heartbeat（心动过速）
- tachypnea (tachy + pnea) — abnormally rapid breathing（呼吸急促）
dys — bad, difficult, abnormal（异常、困难）
- dyspnea (dys + pnea) — difficult or labored breathing（呼吸困难）
- dysphagia (dys + phag) — difficulty swallowing（吞咽困难）
- dystrophy (dys + trophy) — faulty or abnormal tissue nourishment（营养不良 / 肌营养不良）
- dysfunction (dys + function) — impaired or abnormal functioning（功能障碍）
a / an — without, absence of（无、缺乏）
- apnea (a + pnea) — a temporary absence of breathing（呼吸暂停）
- atrophy (a + trophy) — wasting away from lack of nourishment（萎缩）
- aphasia (a + phas) — loss of the ability to speak or understand speech（失语症）
- analgesia (an + alges + -ia) — absence or relief of pain（镇痛）
From decoding to remembering
Reading this list once will not lock these roots into memory. Two things do: spaced retrieval (meeting each root again days later and recalling its meaning before you re-read) and generation (building a new term's meaning from its parts yourself). When you next meet nephrectomy or bradycardia cold, don't look it up — decode it first: nephr + ectomy, "kidney removal"; brady + cardi, "slow heart." That act of reconstruction is what makes a root stick.
Medical vocabulary rewards this method more than any other field, because the parts are so consistent: -itis always means inflammation, hyper- always means excessive, -ectomy always means surgical removal. Learn the pieces once and they pay off across thousands of terms for the rest of your career.
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Keep going
- Browse every root in depth on the Roots page — click any root for its full word family and pronunciation.
- Want the classical foundation? See our guide to Greek Roots, the source of most medical terminology.
- New to the method? Start with What Are Root Words?