This medical terminology suffixes list gathers the word endings you will meet most often in charts and reports, each with a plain meaning and a real example. A suffix is the part attached to the end of a medical word, and it generally signals the category of the word: a disease, a surgery, a test, a specialty or a describing word.
The endings are grouped by job so you can learn related ones together. Pair this page with the prefix list and the combining forms, and the medical terminology overview shows how all three fit into a single word.
At a glance
What a suffix is
The ending attached after the rootMain job
Tells you the type of word: condition, procedure, test, fieldWritten as
Often with a leading hyphen: -itis, -ectomySpelling rule
Combining o drops before a suffix that starts with a vowelMost confused
-ectomy, -otomy and -ostomy
How a suffix in medical terminology changes a word
Think of a suffix as a label on a folder. The root in the middle names the body part; the ending tells you what is being said about it. Take the kidney root nephr/o. Add itis and you get nephritis, inflammation of the kidney. Add ectomy and you get nephrectomy, removal of a kidney. Add logy and you get nephrology, the study of kidney disease. Same organ, three very different meanings.
Spelling follows a simple pattern. When a suffix starts with a vowel, the combining o drops away: arthr/o plus itis is arthritis. When it starts with a consonant, the o stays: arthr/o plus scopy is arthroscopy. Some textbooks write suffixes with a leading hyphen, such as -itis, and this list does the same.
Medical terminology suffixes list: conditions and symptoms
The largest group describes a problem. If a word ends in one of these, it is naming a condition, sign or disease rather than a treatment.
| Suffix | Meaning | Example word |
|---|---|---|
| -itis | Inflammation | appendicitis |
| -osis | Abnormal condition | cyanosis (bluish skin) |
| -emia | Blood condition | anemia |
| -algia | Pain | neuralgia |
| -megaly | Enlargement | cardiomegaly |
| -oma | Tumor or swelling | lipoma (fatty lump) |
| -pathy | Disease | neuropathy |
| -penia | Too few, deficiency | leukopenia |
| -rrhea | Flow or discharge | diarrhea |
| -rrhage | Bursting forth of blood | hemorrhage |
| -malacia | Softening | osteomalacia |
| -stenosis | Narrowing | aortic stenosis |
| -ptosis | Drooping | blepharoptosis (drooping eyelid) |
| -sclerosis | Hardening | arteriosclerosis |
| -lysis | Breakdown or destruction | hemolysis |
| -plegia | Paralysis | hemiplegia |
| -pnea | Breathing | apnea |
A few have close cousins. Rrhea is a flow, rrhage is heavy bleeding, and the condition ending ia, as in ataxia, is the plainest of all, meaning simply a state or condition.
Surgical and procedure suffixes
These endings tell you something is being done. They appear in operative notes, consent forms and surgical schedules, and many have their own abbreviations on the surgery and procedure list.
| Suffix | Meaning | Example word |
|---|---|---|
| -ectomy | Surgical removal | appendectomy |
| -otomy | Cutting into | tracheotomy |
| -ostomy | Creating a new opening | colostomy |
| -plasty | Surgical repair or reshaping | rhinoplasty |
| -centesis | Puncture to draw off fluid | amniocentesis |
| -pexy | Surgical fixation | orchiopexy |
| -rrhaphy | Suturing | herniorrhaphy |
| -tripsy | Crushing | lithotripsy |
| -desis | Binding or fusing | arthrodesis |
The three that trip people up most are ectomy, otomy and ostomy. Removing, cutting into and making an opening are very different operations, so it pays to read the ending slowly.
Suffixes for tests, scopes and measurements
Diagnostic endings come in families. Gram, graph and graphy share a root but mean the result, the machine and the process.
| Suffix | Meaning | Example word |
|---|---|---|
| -gram | The record or picture produced | mammogram |
| -graph | Instrument that records | electrocardiograph |
| -graphy | Process of recording | angiography |
| -scope | Instrument for looking | otoscope |
| -scopy | Looking inside with a scope | colonoscopy |
| -metry | Measurement | spirometry |
So an EKG tracing is an electrocardiogram, while the machine that makes it is an electrocardiograph.
Describing words, specialties and specialists
The last group turns a root into an adjective, a field of study or a person. They carry less drama but appear in almost every sentence of a note.
| Suffix | Meaning | Example word |
|---|---|---|
| -al, -ac, -ic | Pertaining to | renal, cardiac, gastric |
| -ous, -ary | Pertaining to | intravenous, pulmonary |
| -logy | Study of | cardiology |
| -logist | Specialist in a field | neurologist |
| -iatry | Medical treatment field | psychiatry |
| -ism | State or condition | hypothyroidism |
| -genic | Producing or caused by | carcinogenic |
How to learn medical suffixes and keep them
Learning a suffix list is easier in small batches. Pick five endings from one group, write each on a card with an example word, and say the word aloud. The next day, cover the meanings and test yourself. When you meet a new word in a report, circle the ending first and decide which group it belongs to before looking up the rest.
Students preparing for exams can check progress with the practice quiz, and the self study plan schedules suffixes in the first two weeks because they unlock the most words.
Frequently asked questions
What does a suffix do in medical terminology?
It sits at the end of the word and usually tells you what kind of term it is. Itis signals inflammation, ectomy signals removal, and gram signals a recorded image or tracing.
What is the difference between -ectomy, -otomy and -ostomy?
Ectomy means taking something out, otomy means cutting into it, and ostomy means creating a new opening to the outside. A tonsillectomy removes the tonsils, a tracheotomy cuts into the windpipe, and a colostomy brings part of the colon out through the belly wall.
Which medical suffixes should I learn first?
Start with the ones that appear most: itis, osis, emia, algia, ectomy, otomy, ostomy, plasty, scopy, gram, logy and the adjective endings. Together they let you classify a large share of everyday chart words.
Why is the o dropped in some words and not others?
The combining vowel is there to make words easy to say. Before an ending that already starts with a vowel it is usually left out, as in gastritis, but before a consonant it stays, as in gastroscopy.
Do medical suffixes always give the full meaning?
They give the category and much of the meaning, but some words have drifted. Use the parts as a strong clue and confirm with the context or a reliable explanation of the full term.