Get ready. The sensory systems use a lot of medical terminology, including root words, prefixes, and suffixes, and with good reason. Consider that this set of systems includes some delicate and sophisticated body parts: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin. It’s no wonder that you need a lot of combining forms and roots to fully describe the wonders of the senses.
Let’s start small with taste, smell, and touch. Then you can move on to the eyes and ears, which are slightly more complicated.
| Word or Word Part | What It Means |
|---|---|
| A- or an- | Without, or lack of |
| Dys- | Difficult or uncomfortable |
| Geusia | Taste |
| Hyper- | Excess — more than normal |
| Hypo- | Less than normal |
| -itis | Inflammation |
| Osmia | Smell |
See, that wasn’t so hard! Now that you have your feet wet (or nose, as it may be), you can move on to the eye, which has about a gazillion (okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration) root words and combining forms.
| Root Word | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Aque/o | Water |
| Blephar/o | Eyelid |
| Conjunctiv/o | Conjunctiva (membrane lining eyelids) |
| Core/o, cor/o | Pupil |
| Corne/o | Cornea |
| Dacry/o | Tear, tear duct |
| Dipl/o | Double |
| Emmetr/o | In due measure |
| Glauc/o | Gray |
| Ir/o, irid/o | Iris (colored portion of the eye) |
| Is/o | Equal |
| Kerat/o | Cornea |
| Lacrim/o | Tear, tear duct |
| Mi/o | Smaller, les |
| Mydri/o | Wide |
| Ocul/o | Eye |
| Ophthalm/o | Eye (ophthalmologist, specialist in eye disorders) |
| Opt/o | Eye, vision |
| Phac/o, phak/o | Crystalline lens |
| Phot/o | Light |
| Presby/o | Old age |
| Pupill/o | Pupil |
| Retin/o | Retina |
| Scler/o | Sclera (white of the eye) |
| Uve/o | Iris, ciliary body, and choroids |
| Vitre/o | Glassy |
| Xer/o | Dry |
Here are a prefix and a few suffixes associated with sight.
| Prefix or Suffix | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Bi- or bin- | Two |
| -chalasis | Relaxation |
| -ician | One who |
| -metrist | Specialist in the measurement of |
| -opia | Vision (condition) |
| -ory | Pertaining to |
| -oscopy | Visual examination of internal cavity using a scope |
| -plasty | Surgical repair or reconstruction |
| -tropia | To turn |
The labyrinth of your ear is a complicated place with twists, turns, and many working parts. As such, medical professionals have a lot of words to use when describing what goes on in there. Thankfully, though, the list of root words and suffixes (no prefixes here) is fairly compact.
| Root Word | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Acous/o, Acou/o | Hearing |
| Audi/o | Hearing |
| Aur/o, Aur/i | Ear |
| Bar/o | Pressure, weight |
| Cerumin/o | Cerumen (earwax) |
| Mastoid/o | Mastoid process (process of temporal bone behind the ear) |
| Myring/o | Eardrum, tympanic membrane |
| Ot/o | Ear |
| Staped/o | Stapes (third ossicle of middle ear) |
| Tympan/o | Eardrum, middle ear |
Strangely, there really aren’t any ear-related prefixes to discuss. There are, however, several suffixes to keep you busy.
| Suffix | What It Means |
|---|---|
| -cusis | Hearing |
| -gram | Record |
| -itis | Inflammation |
| -metry | Process of measuring |
| -otomy | Process of cutting into |
| -phonia | Sound |
| -rrhea | Discharge or flow |
| -scope | Instrument used to visually examine |
