Top 50 Medical Prefixes to Know for the PTCB Exam!

What are Medical Prefixes?

Even if you do not know the answer to a PTCB question, you can often work out the likely answer to a question based on medical prefixes.

Prefixes are used at the beginning of words – for example:

• Hypo-
• Brady-
• An-

These words define the meaning of the word.

For example:

• hypo- and tension, referring to low blood pressure.
• hypo- and thyroidism, referring to low thyroid hormone.
• hypo- and glycemia, referring to low blood sugar.

The opposite of hypo is hyper – which refers to elevated beyond the normal range. Hypertension refers to high blood pressure. Hyperglycemia refers to high blood sugar levels – and hyperthyroidism refers to excessive thyroid hormone levels and its effects on the body.

Suffixes are important, too – but we will explore suffixes in more detail in a future article. Unlike prefixes, suffixes appear at the end of words.

To give some examples, ‘-itis’ is a suffix that refers to inflammation. No matter what word goes before ‘-itis’, it means something is inflamed:

• Appendicitis – inflammation of the appendix.
• Glossitis – inflammation of the tongue.
• Arthritis – inflammation of joints.
• Gastritis – inflammation of the lining of the stomach.
• Hepatitis – inflammation of the liver.

Of course, these words combinations of prefixes and suffixes.

In the case of hepatitis, the prefix hepat- always refers to hepatic, or related to the liver. The prefix arth- always refers to bone joints. The list goes on.

By knowing these medicine prefixes and suffixes, it accelerates your knowledge base of disease, anatomy, and pathology. As we alluded to earlier, it equips you with the ability to work out answers when hitherto you may have had no idea at all. On the PTCB exam, students may be asked questions about common disease states and so it’s important that you have the vocabulary to hand to help you answer these test questions.

Below, we have put together some of the most common medical prefixes to learn. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it details the most widespread examples that you will come into contact during your studies and future professional career as a pharmacy technician.

In later articles, we review medical suffixes as well as other important clinical roots used in medicine.

Top 50 Medical Prefixes!

Prefix	Meaning	Example
A / An	Without	Anorexia (without appetite)
Ab-	Away from / Not	Abnormal (not normal)
Ambi-	Both	Ambidextrous (being about to write with both hands)
Ante-	Before	Antenatal (also known as prenatal care, care before birth)
Anti-	Against	Antidote (against a substance)
Auto-	Self	Autonomous (self-control)
Bi-	Two	Bifocal (lens with 2 parts)
Cata-	Breakdown	Catabolism (metabolism that breaks complex molecules down)
Con-	With	Congenital (with genes at birth)
De-	Without / Reversal	Decongestant (reversing congestion)
Diplo-	Double	Diplopia (double vision)
Dys-	Painful or difficult	Dyspnoea (difficulty breathing)
Endo-	Within	Endoscopy (procedure to look inside the body)
Ecto-	Outside	Ectopic pregnancy (fertilised egg implants outside the womb)
Epi-	Above	Epigastric (above stomach)
Eu-	Normal	Euthyroid (normal thyroid levels)
Ex-	Outwards	Exophthalmos (outward protruding of eyes)
Hemi-	Half	Hemicrania (headache on one side of the head)
Hypo-	Lower than normal	Hypotension (low blood pressure)
Hyper-	Higher than normal	Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Inter-	Between	Intermittent (occurring between irregular intervals)
Intra-	Within	Intravenous (injection within the veins)
Juxta-	Near	Juxta-vesicular (near the bladder)
Macro-	Large	Macrophage (a large type of white blood cell)
Mal-	Bad	Malpractice (bad practice)
Mega-	Large/great	Megacolon (large colon)
Micro-	Small	Microbiota (small life forms)
Mono-	One	Monograph (detailed study of one specific subject)
Morph-	Shape	Morphology (shape of organisms)
Multi-	Many	Multiform (many different forms)
Neo-	New	Neoplasm (new growth)
Nulli-	None	Nulliparous (woman who has never given birth)
Oligo-	Little	Oligospermia (very few sperms)
Pan-	All	Panacea (solution to all problems)
Per-	Through	Percutenaous (through skin layer)
Peri-	Surrounding	Perianal (surrounding the anus)
Poly-	Many	Polycystic (many cysts)
Post-	After	Postpartum (after giving birth)
Pre-	Before	Prescription (before writing)
Pseudo-	False / Resembling	Pseudocyst (resembling a true cyst)
Quadri-	Four	Quadriplegia (relating to all four limbs)
Re-	Repeat	Re-infection (a repeat infection)
Semi-	Half	Semisolid (half solid / half liquid)
Sub-	Under	Subcutaneous (under skin)
Supra-	Above	Supraspinal (above the spine)
Syn-	With	Syncope (fainting; with sudden loss)
Tetra-	Four	Tetracycline (the structure has four cyclic rings)
Trans-	Through	Transdermal (through the dermis layer of the skin)
Un-	Not	Unconscious (not conscious)
Uni-	One	Uniparous (producing a single offspring at birth)