ATI TEAS GUIDE TO ENGLISH & LANGUAGE USAGE | UNDERSTANDING VOCABULARY -

ATI TEAS ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE USAGE REVIEW – VOCABULARY

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QUIZ QUESTIONS LISTED AT END OF REVIEW

Vocabulary questions on this part of the TEAS deal with figuring out the meaning of the word based on synonyms, context clues, tone, and your knowledge of roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

UNDERSTANDING SYNONYMS

Synonyms are two words with similar meanings. You may be asked to find a synonym for a certain word or to figure out the meaning of a word in a sentence that provides a synonym for the unknown word.

UNDERSTANDING CONTEXT CLUES

These questions are similar to those in the reading section, but you may be given as little as a single sentence rather than a longer passage. You will need to use that limited context to figure out the meaning of a word. Look at the surrounding context for the word you are given. Figure out the setting in which the word is used. If the word is part of a series, the other words in the series can provide valuable clues. Review the section on homographs in the chapter on spelling. Questions in this section may use homograph to test whether you are paying attention to context. You should also consider the tone of the passage; it may give you a clue about the meaning of an unknown word.

UNDERSTANDING WORD ORIGINS

You may also be asked questions about root words, prefixes, and suffixes. A root word is the base form of a word. Affixes are the parts we attach to modify the meaning of the root word. A prefix is attached before the root and a suffix is attached after the root. You should spend some time becoming familiar with common affixes used in the medical profession. Here is a list of common roots to get you started.

Abdomin: Abdomen
Acous: Hearing
Aden: Gland
Adip: Fat
Adrena: Adrenal
Aero: Gas
Andr: Male
Angi: Vessel
Anter: Front
Aort: Artery
Arthr: Joint
Audi: Hearing
Bio: Life
Bronch: Bronchus
Carcin: Cancer
Cardi: Heart
Cerebr: Cerebrum
Chol: Bile
Chondr: Cartilage
Col: Colon
Cor: Pupil
Crani: Cranium
Cutane: Skin
Cyst: Bladder
Cyt: Cell
Dactyl: Finger or toe
Derma: Skin
Dors: Back or posterior
Encephal: Brain
Enter: Intestine
Esophag: Esophagus
Esthesi: Sensation
Faci: Face
Fibr: Fiber
Gastr: Stomach
Gynec: Female
Hemat/hemo: Blood
Hepat: Liver
Hist: Tissue
Hyster/metr: Uterus
Intestin: Intestine
Kerat: Hard
Lapar: Abdomen
Laryng: Larynx
Lipo: Fat
Lymph: Lymph
Mamm/mast: Breast
My: Muscle
Myel: Spinal Cord
Nasal: Nose
Necr: Death
Nephr: Kidney
Neur: Nerve
Ocul/ophthalm: Eye
Opt/optic: Seeing or sight
Or: Mouth
Orchid: Testicle or testis
Oste: Bone
Ot: Ear
Ovari: Ovary
Ox/oxy: Oxygen
Pancreat: Pancreas
Path: Disease
Pector: Chest
Ped/Pod: Foot
Pelv: Pelvis
Pharmac/o: Drug
Phleb: Vein
Pneum: Air or lung
Prostat: Prostate gland
Pulmon: Lung
Ren: Kidney
Sept: Infection
Somat: Body
Stern: Breastbone, sternum
Tendin: Tendon
Test: Testicle or testis
Thorac: Thorax/chest
Thromb: Clot
Thyr: Thyroid gland
Vas: Duct/vessel
Ven: Vein
Ventr: Front of body

Many medical terms are formed by combining one or more roots with a prefix and/or suffix, so you need to know the common affixes as well. Here is a list of common prefixes.

Prefix	Prefix meaning	Example Term	Meaning
a-/an-/ar-	Not, without	Amnesia	No memory
Anti-	Against	Antipsychotic	A mind-altering medicine
Dys-	Bad or difficult	Dysentery	Abnormal condition of intestines
Endo-	In, within	Endoscopy	Visual examination inside the body
Epi-	Over, around	Epidural	On or around the dura matter
Exo-/extra-	Outside	Exoskeleton	External skeleton
Hyper-	Beyond normal, high	Hypertension	High blood pressure
Hypo-	Low, under	Hypoglycemia	Low blood sugar
Inter-	Between	Interarticular	Between joints
Intra-	Within	Intravenous	In a vein
Macro-	Large, long	Macroglossia	Having an enlarged tongue
Mal-	Bad	Malaise	General sense of being unwell
Micro-	Small	Microscope	Instrument for viewing small objects
Neo-	New	Neoplasm	Abnormal new growth of tissue
Per-	Through	Percutaneous	Through the skin
Peri-	Around, surrounding	Pericardium	Tissue surrounding the heart
Poly-	Many, much	Polydactyly	Condition of too many fingers or toes
Post-	After	Postmortem	After death
Pre-	Before	Prenatal	Before birth
Sub-	Below, under	Subcutaneous	Under the skin
Super-/Supra-	Above	Supraorbital	Above the eye socket
Tachy-	Rapid	Tachycardia	Fast heartbeat
Trans-	Across, through	Translucent	Allowing light to shine through
Un-	Not	Unformed	Not formed

Here is a list of common suffixes used in medical terminology

Suffix	Suffix meaning	Example Term	Meaning
-ac/-al/-ar/-ary	Pertaining to	Cardiac	Pertaining to the heart
-algia	Pain	Myalgia	Muscle pain
-ase	Enzyme	Lipase	Enzyme that digests fats
-asthenia	Weakness	Neurasthenia	Weakness of nerves
-crine	To secrete	Endocrine	Related to the glands
-cyte	Cell	Leukocyte	White blood cell
-dynia	Pain	Gastrodynia	Stomach pain
-ectomy/-tomy	Surgical removal	Tonsillectomy	Removal of tonsils
-emia	Blood	Anemia	Deficiency of red blood cells
-gnosis	Knowledge	Prognosis	Prediction for future
-gram	Picture or record	Cardiogram	Record of heart activity
-ia/-ism	State or condition	Tachycardia	Condition of a rapid heart rate
-ic	Pertaining to	Therapeutic	Pertaining to treatment
-ist	One who specializes in	Gynecologist	Specialist in women’s reproduction
-it is	Inflammation	Sinusitis	Inflammation of sinus tissues
-lysis	Breakdown, separate	Paralysis	Loss of ability to move or feel
-lpsy	Attack or seizure	Epilepsy	Neurological seizure disorder
-ole/-ule	Small	Molecule	Smallest unit of a compound
-ology	The study of	Biology	The study of living things
-oma	Tumor	Blastoma	Cancer of precursor cells
-osis	Condition	Ankylosis	Abnormal joint stiffening
-pathy	Disease	Neuropathy	Relating to a nerve disorder
-penia	Deficiency	Osteopenia	Low bone mineral density
-poiesis	Formation	Hematopoiesis	Formation of blood cellular components
-rrhage	Excess fluid	Hemorrhage	Excessive bleeding
-stasis	Stopping, controlling	Homeostasis	Equilibrium