Lesson 3: Terminology (page 2 of 20)

The word arthritis means inflammation of the joints.

We learned that the suffix -itis means “inflammation.” So the word arthritis means “inflammation of the joints.” Another example of arthr- is arthralgia. If I tell you that the suffix -algia means “pain,” you will know that the word arthralgia simply means “pain in the joints.”

The combining form neur- or neuro- means having to do with a nerve or the nerves. Some examples are:

neuron – a nerve cell
neurosis – a condition affecting the nerves (the suffix -osis means “a condition”)
neuroma – a nerve tumor (the suffix -oma means “tumor”)

What does the word neuralgia mean?

 Pain in a nerve
 Pain in a joint
 Inflammation of a nerve
 Pain in the neck