Medical Terminology - Lesson 2

[Ardavan Shahrdar]

Medical Terminology
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*Mon/o-*

The prefix Mon- or Mono- comes from the greek word of
'Monos' which means alone, single.

So here it again has the meaning 'one' but in the
sense of being 'alone'.
Examples:
1. Monarthritis:

The root 'arthr' comes from the greek word 'Arthron'
which means 'joint'. The suffix 'itis' means
inflammation.

So monarthritis mean 'The inflammation of a single
joint'.
2. Monocellular:

The word 'cell' comes from the Latin verb 'celare'
which means 'to hide'. Cell means a closed room where
something(s) is concealed. This is how our building
units are named. It may be interesting for you to know
that the origin of the word 'hell' is the same as
'cell'!

So monocellular means 'Having only one cell'.

The opposite is multicellular which means having many
cells.
3. Monochromatic:

'Chroma' in greek means 'color'.

So monochromatic means having only one color.
4. Monogamy:

'Gamos' in greek means marriage. The origin of the
word 'Gamete', a mature germ cell, is also the same.

So monogamy means 'Only one marriage during life'.

In contrast we have 'bigamy' and 'polygamy'.
5. Mononucleosis:

Here 'nucleo' means nucleus.

Mononucleosis means a condition in which there is an
abnormal increase in the number of mononulear white
blood cells in the blood. Before the discovering of
the etiology of 'infectious mononucleosis' as a result
of EBV infection, it was called in this way because of
the observation of mononucleosis in IM patients.

In old literature and also some homeopathy books
instead of 'Infectious mononucleosis' the terms,
'Glandular fever' and 'Lymphadenosis' are used.
6. Monomania:

Mania comes from the greek verb 'Mainesthai' which
means 'to be mad'.

Monomania means 'A mental derangement restricted to
ONE idea or group of ideas'. This is a condition
usually seen in patients with Obssesive Compulsive
Disorder (OCD).
Regards,

Ardavan

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"Life is beautiful, if you look at it in a beautiful way."

Dr Ardavan Shahrdar, MD, DIHom
President of Iranian Homeopathic Association
Website: http://www.minutus.org
Email: ashahrdar@yahoo.com
Mailing list: http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/minutus
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