Basic Medical Terminology - P (Part 2) Quiz

Answer: cervical smear

The Pap test or Pap smear is named after one of its inventors, Dr Georgios Papanicolaou. It is a screening test used to detect pre-cancerous or cancerous conditions in the female cervix (the entrance to the uterus or womb).

The term Pap test/smear is an eponym (a word or phrase derived from the name of a person, place, event, or thing). Eponyms are no longer encouraged in medical terminology because they are non-descriptive. Medical students today are taught to use alternative terms such as cervical smear.

By the way, spare a thought for poor Mrs Andromache Papanicolaou - she underwent daily Pap smears for 20 years to provide her husband with the data he needed for his research! She really deserved to have had the Pap test/smear named after her instead of her husband.

Answer: many, much

The prefix poly- is taken from the Greek "polys" meaning many or much. In medical terminology, its context usually conveys a meaning of too many, more than normal or excessive. Some examples of usage include polydactyly (more than the normal number of fingers or toes), polymyalgia (pain involving many muscles), and polycystic (many cysts). Polydipsia (excessive thirst) and polyuria (excessive urination) are classic symptoms of diabetes.

Answer: all

In Greek, the word part pan- means all, every, or the whole of. Pandemic describes a disease epidemic that affects "all" or the majority of a given population at the same time. It translates literally as "all of the people".

Panacea refers to a medication that cures all illnesses and comes from the Greek words "pan" (all) and "akos" (healing, remedy). The Ancient Greeks (and others) believed in the existence of an all-healing herb but there is no such thing known in modern medicine. In Greek mythology, Panaceia was one of the daughters of Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine. She was the goddess of universal health. Today we use the term panacea to describe the use of one solution to solve many different problems.

Answer: near, beside, beyond, abnormal

What a versatile prefix para- is! It can mean near, beside, beyond, accessory to, apart from, altered, irregular, abnormal and against (from the Greek) or defence, protection against, or to make ready (from the Latin).

Some examples of usage include parallel (derived from the Greek "parallelos", meaning beside one another), parathyroid (the parathyroid glands are situated beside the thyroid gland), and parasite (derived from the Greek "parasitos" meaning feeding beside).

The Ancient Greeks used the word "parasitos" to describe a person who eats at the table of another, or lives at another person's expense. It included people such as priests or civil servants (who were supported by the church or the state), or people who set out to flatter or entertain a prospective host with a view to being invited for a meal. It is now commonly used to describe any living organism that lives directly in or upon another and derives a biological advantage at the expense of its host. This scientific meaning was first recorded around 1640. And it is still used in a derogatory context to indicate a person who takes advantage of others and gives nothing in return.

Answer: live birth

As a prefix, para- has a wide variety of meanings (as indicated in a previous question). However, as a suffix, it is used in obstetrics to describe women in terms of the number of live births that they have had. The word part in front indicates the number of live births. For example, a nullipara is a woman who has never had a live birth, a primipara is a woman who has had one only, and a multipara has had more than one live birth.

This suffix is derived from the Latin "parus" meaning to produce or bring forth.

Answer: knee cap

In Latin, "patella" means little pan or dish, and also knee-cap. This body part was so-named because of its shape; i.e. because it resembled a small dish. Please note the difference between patella (the name of the body part) and patellar (an adjective which means "pertaining to the patella or knee cap").

Answer: disease

Path/o and pathy are word parts taken from the Greek "pathos" meaning suffering or disease. Pathology means the study of disease. When the suffix -pathy appears at the end of a word, the word part(s) in front of it usually indicates what part of the body is diseased; for example, cardiomyopathy (heart muscle), nephropathy (kidney) and neuropathy (nerve).

The suffix -pathy may also indicate an area of medicine which has a particular approach to treating disease, such as naturopathy, homeopathy and osteopathy.

Answer: chest

Pector/o is derived from the Latin "pectus" meaning breast or chest. It refers to the anterior chest (front of the body). Pectoral means pertaining to the chest, as in the pectoral muscles. A cough medicine which is described as an expectorant is one which aids in the clearance of mucus from the airways - it literally means "out of (ex) the chest (pector/o)".

Answer: fear

Phob/o and -phobia are word parts that mean fear of. They are derived from the Greek "phobos" meaning fear. In Greek mythology, Phobos was the god of fear.

When the suffix -phobia appears at the end of a word, the word part(s) in front of it indicate what the patient is afraid of. For example, xenophobia is fear of strangers or foreigners (Gk: xenos = stranger).

Among the "top ten" most common phobias are arachnophobia (spiders), ophidiophobia (snakes), acrophobia (heights), agoraphobia (open or crowded spaces), claustrophobia (confined spaces), cynophobia (dogs), mysophobia (germs) and aerophobia (flying).

Answer: lung

The word parts pneum/o and pneumon/o refer to the lung(s). They are derived from the Greek "pneuma" meaning, wind, air or breath. Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lung and is a common cause of death, particularly among the elderly and infants.

Pneumothorax, commonly called a collapsed lung, is a medical condition where gas (usually air) builds up in the pleural space (the cavity between the lungs and the chest wall) which puts pressure on the lung, causing it to collapse. The medical term pneumothorax comes from the Greek words "pneuma" (air) and "thorax" (chest) and was coined in 1803 by a French physician, Jean Marc Gaspard Itard.