Basic Medical Terminology - M (Part 1) Quiz

Answer: in the morning

Mane (pronounced mar-nay) is a Latin word meaning morning. This word is commonly used in relation to the writing of prescriptions; for example, the instruction "LA Ritalin 10 mg x2 mane" means that the patient should take two 10-mg capsules of long-acting Ritalin in the morning.

Answer: small

Micro- is a prefix meaning small. It is derived from the Greek "mikros" meaning small, petty or trivial. It is a widely used prefix in medical terminology and in non-medical applications as well. Some examples of usage include microbe, micro-organism, microscope, and microcephaly (having an abnormally small head).

Answer: large

Macro- is a prefix meaning large. It is derived from the Greek "makros" meaning long or large. Macro- and micro- are prefixes with opposite meanings; for example, macrocephaly means having an abnormally large head - the opposite of microcephaly. If something is described as microscopic, it means that it is too small to be viewed with an unaided eye; i.e. you need a microscope to see it. Something which is macroscopic is visible to the naked eye.

Answer: hand

Manus is the Latin word for "hand" and is the correct anatomical term for that body part. There are many words derived from "manus" and pertaining to the hand - for example, manual, manuscript, manicure, manipulate, manufacture, manacle, and manage.

Answer: millilitre (abbreviation)

The abbreviation for millilitre is mL. It is an unusual format for an abbreviation to have a lower case letter followed by an upper case letter but that is the correct abbreviation - mL, NOT ml. This is because, in the metric system of measurement, the abbreviation for milli- is "m" and the abbreviation for litre is "L", hence mL when they are put together. Milli- is derived from the Latin mille "thousand" and in the metric system it denotes a quantity of 1 thousandth (1/1000).

It occurs in units of measurement such as milligram (mg) and millimetre (mm).

Answer: bad

The prefix mal- is derived from the Latin "male" (pronounced mar-lay) meaning bad, ill, or wrong. (It has no relation at all to the English word "male" referring to the masculine gender). It can be found in words such as malady and malaise (both of which refer to being ill) as well as malformation, malnutrition and malpractice. Malaria (literally "bad air" in Italian) was so-called because it was observed that the disease occurred in swampy or marshy localities.

It was believed that the disease was caused by the bad air in those areas - the role of the mosquito as a vector for the malarial parasite wasn't known at that time.

Answer: mind

The word parts ment- and ment/o are derived from the Latin "mens" and "mentis" meaning mind or intellect, giving us words such as mental (pertaining to the mind) and mentality. Interestingly, the word parts can also mean "chin" but in that context, they have a different origin - they come from the Latin "mentum" (meaning chin).

The mental artery, for example, is a branch of the maxillary artery (upper jaw) and goes to the chin, not the brain.

Answer: breast

Mast- and mast/o are word parts derived from the Greek "mastos" meaning breast. They are utilised in words such as mastitis (infection of the breast) and mastectomy (removal of the breast). Interestingly, an earlier form of the word "mastos" was "mazos" and it is from this word that the name Amazon (literally 'no breast') was derived.

In Greek mythology, there was a race of female warriors from Scythia (a region in the vicinity of Iran) who were said to have cut or burned off one of their breasts to make drawing their bows easier.

Answer: black

The Greek "melas" and "melanos", meaning black or dark, gives us these word parts. They form the basis of words such as melanin (a dark pigment which contributes to the colour of our skin and hair), melanoma (a cancerous tumour containing melanocytres, melanin-forming cells) and melatonin (a hormone produced by the pineal gland in darkness but not in light, which is involved in the sleep cycle).

The female name Melanie (also meaning black or dark) is derived from the same source.

Answer: madness

Mania is both a suffix and a "stand alone" word. It is derived from the Greek "mania" meaning madness, frenzy, passion, and fury. It is often used as a suffix to indicate a particular type of madness or obsession; for example, nymphomania, kleptomania, and megalomania.

The adjective form is -maniac, used to describe someone who suffers from a type of mania; for example, maniac and egomaniac.