The following prefixes and suffixes are part of many descriptive biological words. Terms of formidable appearance can often be deciphered by being broken down into their components. This glossary was designed to acquaint you with the more common components of such words. Each is followed by its definition and an example.
a-, ab-, an- without, lacking. "acellular, aboral,
anaerobic"
ad- near to, at. "adrenal"
allo- other, different. "allopatric"
-ase enzyme. "endonuclease"
bi- two. "bilateral"
bio- life, living. "biochemistry"
blasto- of the early embryo. "blastocoel"
cardio- heart. "cardiogram"
cephal- head, brain. "encephalitis"
chlor- green, or pertaining to chlorine.
"chloroplast, chloride"
chrom- colored. "chromosome"
-coel- cavity, chamber. "coelom, blastocoel"
-cyte-, cyto- cell. "cytoplasm, cnidocyte"
-derm- skin. "endoderm, dermis"
di- two. "diploid, diploblastic"
ecto-, exo- outside, external. "ectoderm, exocrine"
endo- inside. "endoderm, endothelium"
epi- upon, outer. "epidermis"
gastro- stomach. "gastro-intestinal tract"
-gen, -geny producing, originating from. "mutagen,
phylogeny"
glu-, gly- sugar. "glucose, glycolysis"
hem-, hemat- blood. "hemoglobin, hematology"
hepat- liver. "hepatitis"
hetero- other, different. "heterozygous"
hist- tissue. "histology"
homeo-, homo- similar. "homeostasis, homozygous"
hydro- water. "hydrolysis"
hyper- over, too much. "hyperosmotic,
hypertension"
hypo- under, lower, not enough. "hypoosmotic,
hypoglycemia"
iso- equal, the same. "isosmotic"
latero- side. "bilateral"
leuco-, leuko- white. "leukocyte"
lip- fat, lipid. "lipoprotein"
-logy the study of. "embryology"
lyso-, -lysis, -lytic breaking down, decomposition, loosening.
"glycolysis, lysosome, bacteriolytic"
mega- large. "megaspore"
melan- black, dark. "melanocyte"
meso- middle. "mesoderm"
meta- posterior, later, change. "metaphase,
metamorphosis"
micro- small. "microorganism"
milli- thousand. "millimeter"
morpho-, -morph form, structure. "dimorphic,morphology"
myo- muscle. "myosin"
nephr- kidney. "nephron"
neur- nerve. "neuron"
oo-, ov- egg. "oocyte, oviduct"
para- beside. "parasympathetic"
-ped-, -pod- leg. "centipede, arthropod"
peri- surrounding. "pericardium"
phag- eating, engulfing. "phagocyte"
photo- light. "photoperiod"
-phyte plant. "thallophyte"
-plasm- formed material. "cytoplasm"
poly- many. "polypeptide"
-som- body. "lysosome, somatic cell"
sym-, syn- together. "symbiosis, synapse"
-therm- heat. "thermoregulation, exothermic"
vasc-, vaso- vessel. "vascular, vasoconstriction"
zoo- animal. "zoogeography"
-zyme- enzyme. "isozyme"