Basic Medical Terminology - T (Part 2) Quiz

Answer: thyroid hormone (abbreviation)

TSH is an abbreviation for thyroid stimulating hormone, also known as thyrotrophin. It is a hormone secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. As the name implies, it is a hormone which stimulates the thyroid gland to produce other hormones, which in turn regulate the body's metabolic processes (the chemical reactions that occur within the body to maintain life and essential body functions).

Answer: monster

Terat/o is a word part meaning monster or abnormal form. It is derived from the Greek "teras" meaning monster, marvel or a sign or portent. Ancient Greeks and Romans considered the appearance of a deformed human or animal as being an omen by which the gods were delivering a message.

In modern medical terminology, it is used in words such as teratogen or teratogenic, referring to substances or agents which can induce the formation of developmental abnormalities in a foetus. An example would be infectious agents such as viruses, or drugs (such as thalidomide, which caused birth defects in the late 1950s).

A teratoma is a tumour composed of tissues not normally found at the site of the tumour. Teratomas are commonly found in the sex organs (ovaries and testicles) and can contain such diverse tissues as hair and teeth.

Answer: chest

In anatomical terms, the thorax is the chest. The Greek word "thorax" means chest or breastplate, giving us the word roots thorac- and thorac/o, and the suffix -thorax. Examples of usage include thoracic (pertaining to the chest and chest cavity), thoracotomy (the surgical opening of the chest cavity to expose and operate on the structures within, such as the heart and lungs) and pneumothorax (which occurs when air enters the chest, causing the lung to collapse).

Answer: clot

The Greek "thrombos", meaning a clump or curd, refers to clotted blood or curdled milk. In medical terminology it refers to blood clotting and occurs in words such as thrombus (a blood clot), thrombosis (the process of formation of a blood clot, or the presence of a clot in a blood vessel), and thrombocytes (another name for platelets or cell fragments involved in clotting).

Answer: cutting

These word parts all relate to cutting and are derived from the Greek "tomos" meaning slice or section, or to cut. Medical terms ending in the suffix -tome refer to instruments which cut; for example, a microtome is an instrument which cuts body tissues into very thin or small slices for examination under a microscope.

Medical terms ending in the suffix -tomy refer to surgical procedures which involve cutting INTO a body part or tissue -- as opposed to the suffix -ectomy (which means to cut OUT); for example, gastrotomy means to cut into the stomach, whereas gastrectomy means to cut out or remove the stomach.

Other examples include phlebotomy (cutting into a vein), laparotomy (cutting into the abdomen) and tracheotomy (cutting into the trachea). The word anatomy is an interesting example - it literally means to cut up (ana- means up). This is because anatomy (the study of the structure and function of the body and its parts) involves dissection, or cutting up and studying the body.

The word root tom/o occurs in the medical term tomography, more commonly known as CT or CAT (computerised axial tomography) scanning, which involves the use of x-ray radiation to create a series of virtual slices (or cuts) through the body at regular intervals and recording them as a series of images to aid in diagnosis.

Answer: poison

Toxin is a term coined in 1888 by Ludwig Brieger, a German doctor, as a name for poisonous substances produced by pathogens (disease-causing organisms). He took the term toxin from the Latin "toxicum" meaning poison, which in turn was derived from the Greek "toxon" meaning bow, as in the bows used for shooting arrows, because some archers took to tipping their arrows with poisonous substances.

These Latin and Greek words give us the word parts tox/o and toxic/o and thus medical words such as toxic (poisonous), toxicology (study of poisons), toxaemia (blood poisoning) and even intoxicated.

The original meaning of intoxicate meant to poison someone. It acquired the meaning of being drunk in the late 16th century.

Answer: shin bone

The tibia (shin bone) is the inner and larger of the two bones in the lower leg. The name tibia comes from the Latin word "tibia" meaning pipe or flute, as well as shin bone. It is believed that the name originated because the shape reminded ancient physicians of a pipe or flute, and/or that primitive flute-like instruments were once created from the shin bones of animals.

Many of the bones of the human body were named because their shape reminded early anatomists of common items, such as tools and household implements. For example, the fibula (the other bone of the lower leg) means clasp or brooch. The three bones of the ear -- malleus, incus and stapes -- mean hammer, anvil and stirrup, respectively. The vomer (the bone between the nostrils) means ploughshare and the clavicle (collar bone) means little key.

Answer: three

The Greek word "trias" gives us the prefix tri- meaning three. This is a prefix used widely in everyday English words as well as medical terms. Some examples include triceps (the muscle that extends the arm and has three sections of attachment to the bone), the trigeminal nerve (has three main branches), triangular (three angles), and trimester (a period of three months).

Answer: hair

Trich/o is a word part that is used in words to denote either hair or hair-like structures. It is derived from the Greek "trikhos" meaning hair. Trichotillomania is a mental health disorder where the patient experiences a compulsion to rub or pull out their hair. Trichobezoar is the correct medical terminology for a hairball (a mass of swallowed hair in the stomach). Trichomycosis is any hair disease caused by a fungal infection.

Answer: death

In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the God of Death. His name lends itself to the word part thanat/o meaning death. It is found in words such as thanatology (study of death) and thanatophobia (fear of death). Perhaps the most common usage is in the word euthanasia, which is derived from the Greek prefix eu-(meaning good or easy) and thanatos - hence, euthanasia means "easy or good death". Up to the 19th century, euthanasia simply referred to an easy, peaceful death, whether natural or assisted. In the late 19th century, it acquired the connotation of "mercy killing".