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? asked in Education & ReferenceTrivia · 8 years ago

How many medical terms are there?

I'm talking about the prefixes, word roots, and suffixes. I know it would be almost impossible to count EVERY medical term (surgical terms, diagnositc terms, anatomy terms, etc.) But if someone could give me an estimate on how many medical prefixes, suffixes, and word roots (combining forms), I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

Update:

Thank you to the first person who answered, but you didn't answer my question. I didn't need help with how to form words. And I realize that there are many medical terms describing conditions. In my question I stated that i'm not interested in how many diagnositc terms there are. I specifically said how many word parts are there (prefixes, word roots, and suffixes). There has got to be a definite number out there. If a new condition is discovered, it doesn't increase the number of word parts....there's just a new diagnostic or disease term. Do you understand what I'm asking for? I still appreciate you taking the time to respond. Thank you.

Update 2:

Thank you to the first person who answered, but you didn't answer my question. I didn't need help with how to form words. And I realize that there are many medical terms describing conditions. In my question I stated that i'm not interested in how many diagnositc terms there are. I specifically said how many word parts are there (prefixes, word roots, and suffixes). There has got to be a definite number out there. If a new condition is discovered, it doesn't increase the number of word parts....there's just a new diagnostic or disease term. Do you understand what I'm asking for? I still appreciate you taking the time to respond. Thank you.

2 Answers

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  • Gracia
    Lv 7
    8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    In the process of creating medical terminology, certain rules of language apply. These rules are part of language mechanics called linguistics. So, when a term is developed, some logical process is applied. The word root is developed to include a vowel sound following the term to add a smoothing action to the sound of the word when applying a suffix. The result is the formation of a new term with a vowel attached (word root + vowel) called a combining form. In English, the most common vowel used in the formation of the combining form is the letter -o-, added to the word root.

    There are hundreds of thousands of medical terms in the English language. There are many conditions and body parts that most people have never even heard of.

    See more at: http://www.chacha.com/question/how-many-medical-te...

    Have a pleasant day.

    Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_terminology
  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    Lol morbid and cat scan is my favorite

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