Medicine (as a practice) as we know it has only existed for around 120 years. Medicine as a study has existed since civilization first began. The academic treasures of the ancient world were assimilated into the Roman empire (which lasted almost 1000 years). The medical knowledge of the years were translated into Latin and marched on the feet of soldiers as they conquered the known world west of the Euphrates river. The root language of medicine in the modern world is Latin.

All Romance (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian) languages are based on Latin. Obviously, the Romance languages are structured differently than English. Latin languages always possess a root word like:

Perro (dog)

Then sometimes a suffix

Perrito (puppy)

And sometimes a prefix

Aperrar (to chase something vigorously… like a dog)

Common Root Words

• Cardio- Heart
• Neuro- Nervous System
• Naso- Nose
• Oro- Mouth
• Arterio- Artery
• Hemo- Blood
• Therm- Temperature
• Vaso- Vein

Common Prefixes

• Hyper – Higher
• Hypo – Lower
• Tachy – Fast
• Brady – Slow

Now Make Combinations That Make Sense

• Bradycardia – Slow heart rate
• Tachycardia – Fast heart rate
• Hypothermia – Low temperature
• Hyperthermia – High temperature