1. Making Sense of it All Biology Prefixes and Suffixes

2. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Yes, this is an actual word. What does it mean?

3. Biology can be filled with words that sometime seem incomprehensible. By "dissecting" these words into discrete units, even the most complex terms can be understood.

4. The following pages are designed to give you the tools needed to understand the most common prefixes and suffixes in biology. By using these prefixes and suffixes even the most difficult words like the one above can be easily understood.

5. To perform our biology word dissection, we'll need to proceed carefully. First, we come to the prefix (pneu-), or (pneumo-) which means lung. Next, is ultra, meaning extreme, and microscopic, meaning small. Now we come to (silico-), which refers to silicon, and (volcano-)which refers to the mineral particles that make up a volcano. Then we have (coni-), a derivative of the Greek word konis meaning dust. Finally, we have the suffix (-osis) which means affected with. Now lets rebuild what we have dissected:

6. Considering the prefix (pneumo-) and the suffix (-osis), we can determine that the lungs are affected with something. But what? Breaking down the rest of the terms we get extremely small (ultra- microscopic) silicon (silico-) and volcanic (volcano-) dust (coni-) particles. Thus, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a disease of the lungs resulting from the inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust. That wasn't so difficult, now was it?

7. Now that we've honed our dissection skills, let's try some frequently used biology terms.

8. Arthritis (Arth-) refers to joints and (- itis) means inflammation. Arthritis is the inflammation of a joint(s).

9. Erythrocyte (Erythro-) means red and (- cyte) means cell. Erythrocytes are red blood cells.

10. Okay, let's move on to more difficult words. For instance:

11. Electroencephalogram Dissecting, we have (electro-), pertaining to electricity, (encephal-) meaning brain, and (-gram) meaning record. Together we have an electric brain record or EEG. Thus, we have a record of brain wave activity using electrical contacts.

12. Schizophrenia Individuals with this disorder suffer from delusions and hallucinations. (Schis-) means split and (phren-) means mind.

13. Thermoacidophiles These are ancient bacteria that live in extremely hot and acidic environments. (Therm-)means heat, next you have (-acid), and finally (phil-) means love. Together we have heat and acid lovers.

14. Once you understand the commonly used prefixes and suffixes, obtuse words are a piece of cake! Here are some common prefixes and suffixes:

15. AmphiBoth anti Against ArthroJoint bio Life blastGerm CarboCarbon CarciCancer CardioHeart CarniFlesh ChloroGreen

16. Chroma(o)Color Derm,DermaDenotes skin Eco Habitation Endo Within Gastro Stomach Graph Write Hemo Blood Hetero Other Homo/Homeo Same Hydro Water

17. HypoUnder Iso Equal Itis Inflamation LateralSide Lipo Fat MetaChanging MicroSmall MonoSingle MorphForm MutaChange

18. Ovi (o)Denotes egg OsteoBone PhageEating PhobiaFear of PhotoLight PhyllLeaf Pod foot ProtoFirst PseudoFalse Pyro Fire

19. Retro Backwards Sacchar Sugar Sarco Flesh or muscle Sperm Seed Stasis Standing Stome Mouth Sym/synTogether Thermo Heat

20. TEST YOURSELF! http://www.classtools.net/widgets/quiz_26/Bi ology_Prefixes_and_Suffixes_CcDWL.htm