Basic Medical Terminology - D Trivia Quiz

Answer: bad, difficult, painful

This prefix is a very common word part derived from the Greek language that has a variety of negative meanings - such as bad, ill, painful, hard, difficult, disordered, abnormal, and imperfect. An example is dysfunction(al), which is a broadly used medical term to refer to anything that isn't normal and healthy.

Many medical conditions begin with dys-, such as dyslexia (difficulty with reading), dysentery (painful intestines), and dysmenorrhoea (painful menstruation).

Answer: fingers and/or toes

Dactyl- and dactyl/o refer to the fingers and toes, from the Greek "daktylos", which was a ancient unit of measurement - a finger-breadth. Polydactyly is the medical condition of having more than the usual number of fingers and/or toes (poly = many). Anne Boleyn was rumoured to have had six fingers on one hand but this is likely to have been a religiously or politically motivated piece of propaganda as polydactyly was believed to be a sign of the devil in those times.

Other famous people known to have had polydactyly include cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers and actor/comedian Drew Carey.

Answer: complete, through

This prefix is a very common word part derived from the Greek language that has a variety of meanings - such as through, throughout, thoroughly, completely, across and opposed to. For example, diarrhoea means "a flowing through". Diarrhoea comprises the prefix dia- (through) and suffix -rhhoea (flow) and is an appropriate description of loose stools "flowing through" the bowel.

Answer: down, lack of, undo

The prefix de- is another example of a prefix with many meanings - such as down, lack of, from, off, away, less, and undo. In the word dehydration, the prefix de- indicates lack of water. In decompression, it indicates a lessening or reduction of pressure.

Answer: tooth

Dent- and dent/i are derived from the Latin "dens" meaning tooth. Examples of usage include common words such as dental, dentist, and dentures. Some familiar but non-medical examples include trident (three teeth) and dandelion (from Old French "dent de lion" or "lion's tooth", because of its jagged tooth-shaped leaves).

Answer: skin

Derm-, derm/o and also dermat/o indicate the skin, from the Greek "derma" meaning skin or leather. The correct anatomical term for the skin is the dermis. Dermatology is the area of medicine concerned with disorders affecting the skin and the corresponding specialist doctor is a dermatologist.

Answer: thirst, drink

Drinking or thirst is indicated by the word parts dips- and dips/o, from the Greek "dipsa" meaning thirst. One of the most common medical terms which utilises these word parts is polydipsia meaning excessive thirst (poly = much, many). Polydipsia is one of the classic symptoms of diabetes. Another example is dipsomania, an old-fashioned term for alcoholism (mania = madness, passion).

Answer: two, double

The prefixes di- and diplo- indicate a quantity of two. Some examples of usage include diplopia (double vision), diplococcus (a bacterium that occurs in pairs), carbon dioxide (has two oxygen atoms per one carbon atom), and dizygotic (meaning two yolks and refering to non-identical twins who come from two different eggs).

Answer: first part of small intestine

Duoden- and duoden/o refer to the first section of the small intestine, or duodenum. The name derives from the Latin "duodeni" meaning "twelve each", referring to a unit of measurement based on the width of the finger. That is, the length of the duodenum is approximately 12 finger-breadths (approximately 10 inches or 25 cm in modern measurement). Duodenal ulcers and duodenitis (inflammation of the duodenum) are common causes of abdominal pain.

Answer: back

Dorsum is Latin for back. Dorso-, dorsum, and dorsal are directional terms that refer to the "back" or posterior surface of a body part, and particularly the back of the thoracic cavity (opposite the chest and abdomen). Anatomically speaking, the dorsum of the foot is the top of the foot (opposite the sole), and the dorsum of the hand is the back of the hand (opposite the palm). Dorsiflexion is bending backwards of the hand or foot.