Basic Medical Terminology - B Trivia Quiz

Answer: arm

These word parts are derived from the Greek "brakhion" meaning arm. Medical terms containing brachi- or brachi/o usually refer to the upper arm from shoulder to elbow. For example, the brachial plexus is a network (plexus) of nerves that originates near the neck or shoulder and provides the nerve supply to the arm.

Answer: slow

This word part is derived from the Greek "bradys" meaning slow. Examples of usage include bradycardia (slow heart beat) and bradypnoea (slow breathing).

Answer: two

Bi- and bin- are prefixes that denote a quantity of two and comes from the Latin "bis" meaning twice. They occur in many medical terms. One of the more common ones is the word bilateral meaning two-sided. For example, if you have conjunctivitis (an eye infection commonly known as "pink eye") and it affects both eyes, this condition would be expressed as bilateral conjunctivitis.

Answer: life, living

This word part is derived from the Greek "bios" meaning life. For example, biology is the study of life and living things. A biopsy is a procedure involving the examination of tissue is taken from a living body - it literally means "looking at life".

Answer: embryonic, immature

This word part is an unusual one in that it can be a prefix (blast-) or a suffix (-blast). It comes from the Greek "blastos" meaning sprout or germ. It is usually found in words that relate to the embryo or to immature cells. For example, a blastoma is a cancerous tumour composed of immature cells.

A neuroblast is an embryonic cell from which nerve tissue is formed. A neuroblastoma is a cancerous tumour composed of neuroblasts.

Answer: eyelid

Blephar- and blephar/o are word parts derived from the Greek "blepharon" meaning eyelid. Have you ever experienced blepharospasm? That's the annoying involuntary twitching of the muscle in the eyelid. Blepharoplasty is plastic surgery on the eyelids, often involving removal of tissue from sagging eyelids.

This may be done for cosmetic reasons or because the sagging tissue is interfering with vision.

Answer: cheek

Bucc- and bucc/o are word parts that mean cheek and are derived from the Latin "bucca", also meaning cheek. Structures that are found in the vicinity of the cheek are often described by the adjective buccal; for example, buccal artery and buccal nerve. An alternative name for the mouth cavity is the oral or buccal cavity.

Answer: gall, bile

These words parts come from the Latin "bilis", referring to the fluid secreted by the liver, or bile. An example of usage occurs in the word bilirubin. Bilirubin is a yellow-orange pigment found in bile. It is formed by the breakdown of red blood cells in the liver. It is responsible for the yellow colour of bruises and jaundice, and contributes to the brown colour of faeces.

Answer: pressure, weight

The word parts bar- or bar/o refer to pressure or weight and are derived from the Greek "baros" meaning weight and, interestingly, burden. These word parts occur in words such as barometer (an instrument which measures air pressure). There is an area of medicine called bariatrics which involves the study and treatment of obesity (i.e. overweight).

Answer: twice daily

"Bis in die" is Latin for "twice a day". It is usually seen as the abbreviation b.i.d. on a prescription.