A reference list of common medical terms with plain-English meanings, organized by body system. Each one is built from the same prefixes, roots, and suffixes you can practice in the games.
| Term | Meaning | System |
|---|---|---|
| Tachycardia | Abnormally fast heart rate (over 100 bpm) | Cardiology |
| Bradycardia | Abnormally slow heart rate (under 60 bpm) | Cardiology |
| Hypertension | High blood pressure | Cardiology |
| Myocardial infarction | Heart attack; death of heart muscle from blocked blood flow | Cardiology |
| Cerebrovascular accident | Stroke; interrupted blood flow to the brain | Neurology |
| Neuropathy | Disease or dysfunction of the nerves | Neurology |
| Hemiplegia | Paralysis of one side of the body | Neurology |
| Gastritis | Inflammation of the stomach lining | Gastroenterology |
| Hepatomegaly | Enlargement of the liver | Gastroenterology |
| Dysphagia | Difficulty swallowing | Gastroenterology |
| Nephritis | Inflammation of the kidney | Nephrology |
| Hematuria | Blood in the urine | Nephrology |
| Dyspnea | Difficult or labored breathing | Pulmonology |
| Bronchitis | Inflammation of the bronchial tubes | Pulmonology |
| Arthralgia | Joint pain | Musculoskeletal |
| Osteoporosis | Loss of bone density making bones fragile | Musculoskeletal |
| Anemia | Low red blood cell count or hemoglobin | Hematology |
| Leukocytosis | Elevated white blood cell count | Hematology |
| Dermatitis | Inflammation of the skin | Dermatology |
| Carcinoma | A cancer arising from epithelial tissue | Oncology |
High-frequency clinical terms cluster by specialty: cardiology (myocardial infarction, hypertension, arrhythmia), respiratory (pneumonia, COPD, asthma), GI (gastritis, hepatitis, cholecystitis), and so on. Learning them by specialty mirrors how they appear in practice.
Most are built from Greek and Latin roots that don't follow English pronunciation rules. Once you recognize the morphemes, pronunciation becomes pattern-based: peri-card-itis breaks into three predictable syllable groups.
Yes — decompose each term into morphemes and translate each part. 'Cholecystitis' = chol (bile) + cyst (sac) + itis (inflammation) = inflammation of the gallbladder. Once decoded, the term is hard to forget.
Largely yes. Because most medical vocabulary derives from Greek and Latin, terms are remarkably consistent across English, Spanish, French, German, and other languages — one of the few advantages of the field's traditionalism.
For general healthcare communication, around 500–1,000 terms cover most situations. Specialty practice adds another 500–1,500 specific to that area.