I'm taking a medical terminology class right now and I'm having issues discerning which word roots I'm supposed to use when they have the same meaning. For example, the combining forms pneum/o and pneumat/o both mean "lung" according to my textbook, however, a hernia of the lung is a "pneumat/o/cele" as opposed to "pneum/o/cele". I even googled these words up and only "pneumatocele" seems to be the proper term. A student in class asked the professor how we're supposed to know which word roots to use and the professor's reply was a bleak "you're just supposed to know". A lot of medical terms involves prefixes, suffixes and combining forms of similar definitions yet there must be some vague rule about knowing which parts to use with what. Another example, the suffixes "-ia" and "-osis" both mean "diseased condition" but a diseased lung is called "pneumon/ia" as opposed to "pneum/osis".
I'd REALLY appreciate any tips or forms of guidance with this. My professor is obviously very useless so I'm relying on this right now because I've googled for tips and tricks and can't find ANY.
Best Answer
The two are actually pneumon(o)- and pneumat(o)-. Pneumono- related to the lung, whereas pneumato- relates to the air or gas (usually contained in the lung). Pneumatocele is an air-filled cyst, whereas pneumonocele is a hernia of the lung.
If you look up the etymology for all of the suffixes and prefixes on the internet (from Wiktionary, for example), you'll be able to understand the subtle differences better.