Medical Terminology
Decode clinical language one meaningful piece at a time.
Lesson 3 of 12
Body-part roots: N-Z
A second set of roots covers nervous, respiratory, sensory, and other structures. The root may identify an organ, a tissue, or a broad body region. In compound terms, several roots can appear together, so locate each part before translating the whole. Spanish equivalents may be similar to English, but the clinical word part remains useful to recognize in either language.
Key points
- neur/o refers to nerves or the nervous system; pneum/o and pulmon/o relate to lungs.
- rhin/o concerns the nose and ot/o the ear.
- ren/o and nephr/o are forms associated with the kidney.
- thorac/o refers to the chest; trache/o to the trachea.
- ur/o relates to urine or the urinary tract; ven/o relates to a vein.
- Some roots overlap in scope; the full term and context determine the intended meaning.
Key terms
- neur/o
- Nerve or nervous system.
- pneum/o
- Air or lung, depending on the term.
- rhin/o
- Nose.
- ot/o
- Ear.
- ren/o
- Kidney.
- thorac/o
- Chest.
- ven/o
- Vein.
Memory tip
Study paired variants together, such as ren/o and nephr/o.
Clinical note
The same combining form may carry related meanings in different word families.
Unit checkpoint
Lock it in: match the terms, then test yourself.